Patent · US Active

Normal distributions transform (NDT) method for LiDAR point cloud localization in unmanned driving

US11845466B2 · kind B2 · utility

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Key dates

Filing dateSep 22, 2021
Grant dateDec 19, 2023
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 22, 2041

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
  • CPC primaryB60W2554/4049
  • WIPO fieldTransport
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A normal distributions transform (NDT) method for LiDAR point cloud localization in unmanned driving is provided. The method proposes a non-recursive, memory-efficient data structure occupation-aware-voxel-structure (OAVS), which speeds up each search operation. Compared with a tree-based structure, the proposed data structure OAVS is easy to parallelize and consumes only about 1/10 of memory. Based on the data structure OAVS, the method proposes a semantic-assisted OAVS-based (SEO)-NDT algorithm, which significantly reduces the number of search operations, redefines a parameter affecting the number of search operations, and removes a redundant search operation. In addition, the method proposes a streaming field-programmable gate array (FPGA) accelerator architecture, which further improves the real-time and energy-saving performance of the SEO-NDT algorithm. The method meets the real-time and high-precision requirements of smart vehicles for three-dimensional (3D) lidar localization.

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