Calibration for an autonomous vehicle lidar module
AssigneeUber Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDavid McAllister Bradley, Gehua Yang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A LIDAR calibration system can detect a first set of return signals from a plurality of fiducial targets in a calibration facility for a lower set of laser scanners of the LIDAR module. The LIDAR calibration system can also detect a second set of return signals from one or more planar surfaces associated with a calibration trigger location on a road network for an upper set of laser scanners of the LIDAR module. Based on the first and second sets of return signals, the LIDAR calibration system can generate a set of calibration transforms to adjust a set of intrinsic parameters of the LIDAR module.
Claims20
A light-detection and ranging (LIDAR) calibration system for an autonomous vehicle, the LIDAR calibration system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the LIDAR calibration system to:
- for a lower set of laser scanners of a LIDAR module, detect a first set of return signals from a plurality of fiducial targets in a calibration facility, the lower set of laser scanners each having an elevation angle below a threshold elevation angle;
- for an upper set of laser scanners of the LIDAR module, detect a second set of return signals from one or more planar surfaces associated with a calibration trigger location on a road network, the upper set of laser scanners each having an elevation angle above the threshold elevation angle;
- and
- generate a set of calibration transforms to adjust a set of intrinsic parameters of the LIDAR module based on the first and second sets of return signals.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
- for a lower set of laser scanners of a LIDAR module of an autonomous vehicle, detect a first set of return signals from a plurality of fiducial targets in a calibration facility, the lower set of laser scanners each having an elevation angle below a threshold elevation angle;
- for an upper set of laser scanners of the LIDAR module, detect a second set of return signals from one or more planar surfaces associated with a calibration trigger location on a road network, the upper set of laser scanners each having an elevation angle above the threshold elevation angle;
- and
- generate a set of calibration transforms to adjust a set of intrinsic parameters of the LIDAR module based on the first and second sets of return signals.
A computer-implemented method of calibrating a LIDAR module of an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
- for a lower set of laser scanners of the LIDAR module, detecting a first set of return signals from a plurality of fiducial targets in a calibration facility, the lower set of laser scanners each having an elevation angle below a threshold elevation angle;
- for an upper set of laser scanners of the LIDAR module, detect a second set of return signals from one or more planar surfaces associated with a calibration trigger location on a road network, the upper set of laser scanners each having an elevation angle above the threshold elevation angle;
- and
- generate a set of calibration transforms to adjust a set of intrinsic parameters of the LIDAR module based on the first and second sets of return signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.