Perception simulation for improved autonomous vehicle control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10481044-B2
Application number	US-201715598693-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2017
Priority date	May 18, 2017
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A system and method for real world autonomous vehicle perception simulation are disclosed. A particular embodiment includes: receiving perception data from a plurality of sensors of an autonomous vehicle; configuring the perception simulation operation based on a comparison of the perception data against ground truth data; generating simulated perception data by simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors, and by simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors; and providing the simulated perception data to a motion planning system for the autonomous vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a data processor; and
a perception simulation module, executable by the data processor, the perception simulation module being configured to perform a perception simulation operation for autonomous vehicles, the perception simulation operation being configured to:
receive perception data from a plurality of sensors of an autonomous vehicle;
configure the perception simulation operation based on a comparison of the perception data against ground truth data;
generate simulated perception data by simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors, and by simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors, wherein simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors includes applying an occlusion beyond which the one or more of the plurality of sensors cannot detect objects; and
provide the simulated perception data to a motion planning system for the autonomous vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors includes simulating errors in data produced by an image processing module.

3. A method comprising:
receiving perception data from a plurality of sensors of an autonomous vehicle;
configuring the perception simulation operation based on a comparison of the perception data against ground truth data;
generating simulated perception data by simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors, and by simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors, wherein simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors includes applying an occlusion beyond which the one or more of the plurality of sensors cannot detect objects; and
providing the simulated perception data to a motion planning system for the autonomous vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors includes simulating errors in data produced by an image processing module.

5. A non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:
receive perception data from a plurality of sensors of an autonomous vehicle;
configure the perception simulation operation based on a comparison of the perception data against ground truth data;
generate simulated perception data by simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors, and by simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors, wherein simulating errors related to the physical constraints of one or more of the plurality of sensors includes applying an occlusion beyond which the one or more of the plurality of sensors cannot detect objects; and
provide the simulated perception data to a motion planning system for the autonomous vehicle.

6. The non-transitory machine-useable storage medium of claim 5 wherein the ground truth data is produced by a ground truth data simulation system.

7. The non-transitory machine-useable storage medium of claim 5 wherein simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors includes simulating errors in data produced by an image processing module.

Assignees

• TuSimple

Inventors

• Sun Xing
• Lin Wutu
• Zhao Yufei
• Liu Liu

Classifications

• G01M17/00 Primary

  Testing of vehicles (testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00) · CPC title

• B60W2050/0215

  Sensor drifts or sensor failures · CPC title

• B60W30/00

  Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units · CPC title

• B60W50/0205 Primary

  Diagnosing or detecting failures; Failure detection models · CPC title

• G05D1/0246 Primary

  using a video camera in combination with image processing means · CPC title