US 12,270,908 B2
Virtual beams for identification of edge and planar points in lidar point cloud obtained with vehicle lidar system
Yao Hu, Sterling Heights, MI (US); Xinyu Du, Oakland Township, MI (US); Wende Zhang, Birmingham, MI (US); and Hao Yu, Troy, MI (US)
Assigned to GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed by GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed on Nov. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/516,318.
Prior Publication US 2023/0135965 A1, May 4, 2023
Int. Cl. G01S 17/89 (2020.01); B60W 40/10 (2012.01)
CPC G01S 17/89 (2013.01) [B60W 40/10 (2013.01); B60W 2420/408 (2024.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system in a vehicle comprising:
a lidar system configured to transmit incident light and receive reflections from one or more objects as a point cloud of points pi; and
processing circuitry configured to:
assign each point pi of the point cloud into a one of k horizontal strips each corresponding to a virtual beam of light emitted from the lidar system based on a vertical angle of each point pi, wherein each of the k horizontal strips corresponds to a unique range of vertical angles and wherein each pi=[xi, yi, zi] and the vertical angle θi of the point pi is calculated as:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
identify a set of planar points and edge points in each of the k horizontal strips, wherein each set of planar points in the k horizontal strips forms a linear pattern and each edge point is disposed between two sets of planar points; and
identify one or more objects in a field of view of the lidar system based on the planar points and the edge points.