Patent · US Active

LIDAR and camera synchronization

US10999511B2 · kind B2 · utility

9Cited by
0References
30Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 24, 2019
Grant dateMay 4, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 8, 2040

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N23/90
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and system for synchronizing a lidar and a camera on an autonomous vehicle. The system instructs the camera to detect light columns transmitted by the lidar. The system iterates through various start times for the camera. The system instructs the lidar to emit a plurality of light columns at a lidar frequency. The system instructs the camera to capture images at a camera frequency starting at each start time. The system analyzes the image data received from the cameras to identify light columns captured in the images. The system calculates an alignment score for each of the many start times based on the identified light columns. The start time with the optimal alignment score is selected and used to synchronize the lidar and the camera. With lidar data detected by the synchronized lidar and image data captured by the synchronized camera, the system may navigate the autonomous vehicle.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.