US 11,676,307 B2
Online sensor calibration for autonomous vehicles
Qian Gong, Palo Alto, CA (US); Lin Yang, San Carlos, CA (US); and Mark Damon Wheeler, Saratoga, CA (US)
Assigned to NVIDIA CORPORATION, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by NVIDIA CORPORATION, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 2, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/920,141.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/870,897, filed on Jul. 5, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0003684 A1, Jan. 7, 2021
Int. Cl. G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01); G06V 10/75 (2022.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01); G01S 7/497 (2006.01); G01S 17/10 (2020.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G05D 1/02 (2020.01)
CPC G06V 20/56 (2022.01) [B60W 60/00 (2020.02); G01S 7/4814 (2013.01); G01S 7/4817 (2013.01); G01S 7/497 (2013.01); G01S 17/10 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G06T 7/74 (2017.01); G06V 10/751 (2022.01); B60W 2420/42 (2013.01); B60W 2420/52 (2013.01); G05D 1/0231 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
capturing, at a vehicle as the vehicle travels, LIDAR scans and camera images;
selecting, at the vehicle as the vehicle travels, at least a subset of the LIDAR scans and at least a subset of the camera images for calibration;
computing, at the vehicle as the vehicle travels, LIDAR-to-camera transformations for the subset of the LIDAR scans and the subset of camera images using an optimization algorithm, one or more of the LIDAR-to-camera transformations being based at least on an unwinding, at the vehicle, of one or more LIDAR scans of the subset of LIDAR scans with respect to movement of the vehicle during capture of the one or more LIDAR scans, the unwinding being determined based at least on pose information for the vehicle as the vehicle travels; and
calibrating, at the vehicle as the vehicle travels, one or more sensors of the vehicle based at least on the LIDAR-to-camera transformations.