Systems and methods for radar localization in autonomous vehicles

A system for controlling a vehicle, comprising:

• a feature determination module, including a processor, configured to:
• receive sensor data relating to an environment of a vehicle, the sensor data including a plurality of sensor returns associated with objects in the environment, each of the sensor returns having a plurality of corresponding attributes;
• construct a first plurality of sensor data groups, each including a self-consistent subset of the plurality of sensor returns based on their corresponding attributes;
• and define, for each of the first plurality of sensor data groups, a first set of features, wherein each feature is based on at least one of the corresponding attributes and each has an associated feature location;
• and
• a feature correlation module configured to determine, with a processor, a feature correlation between the first set of features and a second, previously determined set of features.

An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

• at least one sensor that provides sensor data relating to an environment of the autonomous vehicle, the sensor data including a plurality of sensor returns associated with objects in the environment, each of the sensor returns having a plurality of corresponding attributes;
• and
• a controller that, by a processor:
• receives the sensor data;
• constructs a first plurality of sensor data groups, each including a self-consistent subset of the plurality of sensor returns based on their corresponding attributes;
• defines, for each of the first plurality of sensor data groups, a first set of features, wherein each feature is based on at least one of the corresponding attributes and each has an associated feature location;
• determines, with a processor, a feature correlation between the first set of features and a second, previously determined set of features;
• and
• estimates a position of the vehicle based on the feature correlation.