Elevation detection system for autonomous vehicles and a method thereof

A method of detecting elevation of surroundings in an Autonomous Vehicle (AV), the method comprising:

• detecting, by an elevation sensor unit of the elevation detection system, an elevation of a plurality of objects with a lower most elevation in a surrounding of the AV to determine a boundary elevation of a road, wherein the elevation sensor unit is vertically movable within a range of vertical positions, wherein the elevation sensor unit is configured to shoot laser beams at different angles to determine the road gradient and boundary elevation, wherein the AV comprises a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor unit associated with the elevation sensor unit, and wherein the LIDAR sensor unit has a predefined Field of View (FoV) and is configured to detect the surrounding of the AV;
• moving, by a computation unit of the elevation detection system, the elevation sensor unit in different vertical positions based on the road gradient and the plurality of objects for detecting the lower most elevation of the plurality of objects in the surrounding to determine the boundary elevation of the road;
• receiving, by the computation unit, data related to the elevation of the plurality of objects from different vertical positions and the boundary elevation of the road;
• determining, by the computation unit, a lower limit value for the FoV of the LIDAR sensor unit based on the lower most elevation of the plurality of objects in the surrounding, the boundary elevation of the road observed at different vertical positions of the elevation sensor unit;
• and
• providing, by the computation unit, the determined the lower limit value to the LIDAR sensor unit, wherein the LIDAR sensor unit is configured to disregard one or more objects from the plurality of objects lying below the lower limit value of the FoV as obstacles.