An Open Multi-Sensor Fusion Toolbox for Autonomous Vehicles

The market for autonomous vehicles (AV) is expected to experience significant growth over the coming decades and to revolutionize the future of transportation and mobility. The AV is a vehicle that is capable of perceiving its environment and perform driving tasks safely and efficiently with little or no human intervention and is anticipated to eventually replace conventional vehicles. Self-driving vehicles employ various sensors to sense and perceive their surroundings and, also rely on advances in 5G communication technology to achieve this objective. Sensors are fundamental to the perception of surroundings and the development of sensor technologies associated with AVs has advanced at a significant pace in recent years. Despite remarkable advancements, sensors can still fail to operate as required, due to for example, hardware defects, noise and environment conditions. Hence, it is not desirable to rely on a single sensor for any autonomous driving task. The practical approaches shown in recent research is to incorporate multiple, complementary sensors to overcome the shortcomings of individual sensors operating independently. This article reviews the technical performance and capabilities of sensors applicable to autonomous vehicles, mainly focusing on vision cameras, LiDAR and Radar sensors. The review also considers the compatibility of sensors with various software systems enabling the multi-sensor fusion approach for obstacle detection. This review article concludes by highlighting some of the challenges and possible future research directions.

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High precision positioning system for autopilot based on multi-sensor fusion

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202125702061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 257 ◽

pp. 02061

Author(s):

Haoru Luo ◽

Kechun Liu

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Sensor Fusion ◽

High Precision ◽

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Autonomous Vehicle ◽

Positioning System ◽

Signal Loss ◽

Automatic Driving ◽

Core Technology ◽

Positioning Method

For autonomous vehicles, autonomous positioning is a core technology in their development. A good positioning system not only helps them efficiently complete autonomous operations, but also improves safety performance. At present, the use of global positioning system (GPS) is a more mainstream positioning method, but in indoor, serious shelter and other environments, GPS signal loss will lead to positioning failure. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a method of mapping before positioning, and designs a set of high precision real-time positioning system by combining the technology of multi-sensor fusion. The designed system was carried on a Wuling sightseeing bus, and the mapping and positioning tests were carried out in the Nanhu Campus of Wuhan University of Technology, the East Campus of Mafangshan Campus and the underground garage where GPS signals were lost. The test results show that the system can realize the high precision real-time positioning function of the autonomous vehicle. Therefore, the in-depth study and implementation of this system is of great significance to the promotion and application of the automatic driving industry.

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