Partially-learned model for speed estimates in radar tracking

A radar system, comprising:

• one or more processors configured to,
• generate, from radar signals, a data cube that represents an environment of a vehicle;
• determine, using a model applied to the data cube, radial-velocity maps of potential detections in the environment of the vehicle, the radial-velocity maps including radial velocity data and Doppler data for the potential detections;
• determine, using the model applied to the data cube, predicted boxes corresponding to respective groups of the potential detections, the predicted boxes including at least modeled speed estimates associated with each of the predicted boxes;
• determine, using the model, Doppler measurements associated with groups of the potential detections associated with each of the predicted boxes, the Doppler measurements including, for each of the box predictions, a list of radial velocities produced from the model such that the list of radial velocities are associated with the groups of the potential detections determined for each of the box predictions;
• determine, using the Doppler measurements associated with the groups of the potential detections determined for each of the predicted boxes, improved speed estimates for each of the predicted boxes by fusing ones of the corresponding radial velocities that align with areas of the box predictions generated using the model to replace the modeled speed estimates from the data cube with the improved speed estimates determined from the radial velocities;
• and
• provide the improved speed estimates for the predicted boxes as an input to an autonomous-driving system or an assisted-driving system that operates the vehicle on a roadway.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a radar system to:

• generate, from radar signals, a data cube that represents an environment of a vehicle;
• determine, using a model applied to the data cube, radial-velocity maps of potential detections in the environment of the vehicle, the radial-velocity maps including radial velocity data and Doppler data for the potential detections;
• determine, using the model applied to the data cube, predicted boxes corresponding to respective groups of the potential detections, the predicted boxes including at least modeled speed estimates associated with each of the predicted boxes;
• determine, using the model, Doppler measurements associated with groups of the potential detections associated with each of the predicted boxes, the Doppler measurements including, for each of the box predictions, a list of radial velocities produced from the model such that the list of radial velocities are associated with the groups of the potential detections determined for each of the box predictions;
• determine, using the Doppler measurements associated with the groups of the potential detections determined for each of the predicted boxes, improved speed estimates for each of the predicted boxes by fusing ones of the corresponding radial velocities that align with areas of the box predictions generated using the model to replace the modeled speed estimates from the data cube with the improved speed estimates determined from the radial velocities;
• and
• provide the improved speed estimates for the predicted boxes as an input to an autonomous-driving system or an assisted-driving system that operates the vehicle on a roadway.