US 12,298,404 B2
Ground intensity LIDAR localizer
Peter Hansen, Pittsburgh, PA (US); and Hatem Alismail, Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Assigned to Aurora Operations, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Filed by Aurora Operations, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Filed on Nov. 27, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/520,416.
Application 18/520,416 is a continuation of application No. 18/046,789, filed on Oct. 14, 2022, granted, now 11,852,729.
Application 18/046,789 is a continuation of application No. 16/536,895, filed on Aug. 9, 2019, granted, now 11,493,635.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/835,207, filed on Apr. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0094398 A1, Mar. 21, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G01S 17/89 (2020.01); G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 17/08 (2006.01); G01S 17/88 (2006.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01)
CPC G01S 17/89 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4808 (2013.01); G01S 17/08 (2013.01); G01S 17/88 (2013.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G05D 1/0033 (2013.01); G05D 1/021 (2013.01); G05D 1/0212 (2013.01); G05D 1/0219 (2013.01); G05D 1/0231 (2013.01); G06T 7/74 (2017.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for determining a pose of a vehicle, comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory, machine-readable medium comprising instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving ground intensity LIDAR data describing a first ground point, the ground intensity LIDAR data comprising first intensity data describing the first ground point and height data describing the first ground point;
forming a first Ground Intensity LIDAR (GIL) image comprising a plurality of pixels arranged on a two-dimensional grid, a first pixel of the plurality of pixels comprising: a height value for the first ground point and an intensity value for the first ground point;
estimating a 6-degree-of-freedom pose that minimizes an error between the first GIL image and an image prior; and
returning the 6-degree-of-freedom pose as a pose estimate for the vehicle.