Tusimple, Inc.

Chenzhe Qian

Mingdong Wang

Xue Mei

Xiaodi Hou

Zehua Huang

Lingting Ge

Siyuan Liu

Ji Zhao

Chenghao Gong

Zhibei Ma

Xiaoling Han

Panqu Wang

Pengfei Chen

Charles A Price

Yi Luo

Ke Xu

Yijie Wang

Lei Nie

Xiangchen Zhao

Shuhan Yang

Fuheng Deng

Shane David Griffith

Joshua Miguel Rodriguez

Chiyu Zhang

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for lane marking localization that may be utilized by autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles traveling within the lane. In the embodiment, the system comprises a locating device adapted to determine the vehicle's geographic location; a database; a region map; a response map; a camera; and a computer connected to the locating device, database, and camera, wherein the computer is adapted to: receive the region map, wherein the region map corresponds to a specified geographic location; generate the response map by receiving information form the camera, the information relating to the environment in which the vehicle is located; identifying lane markers observed by the camera; and plotting identified lane markers on the response map; compare the response map to the region map; and generate a predicted vehicle location based on the comparison of the response map and region map.

Lane marking localization

A system installed in a vehicle includes a first group of sensing devices configured to allow a first level of autonomous operation of the vehicle; a second group of sensing devices configured to allow a second level of autonomous operation of the vehicle, the second group of sensing devices including primary sensing devices and backup sensing devices; a third group of sensing devices configured to allow the vehicle to perform a safe stop maneuver; and a control element communicatively coupled to the first group of sensing devices, the second group of sensing devices, and the third group of sensing devices. The control element is configured to: receive data from at least one of the first group, the second group, or the third group of sensing devices, and provide a control signal to a sensing device based on categorization information indicating a group to which the sensing device belongs.

Sensor layout techniques

Various embodiments provide a system and method for iterative lane marking localization that may be utilized by autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles traveling within the lane. In an embodiment, the system comprises a locating device adapted to determine the vehicle's geographic location; a database; a region map; a response map; a plurality of cameras; and a computer connected to the locating device, database, and cameras, wherein the computer is adapted to receive the region map, wherein the region map corresponds to a specified geographic location; generate the response map by receiving information from the camera, the information relating to the environment in which the vehicle is located; identifying lane markers observed by the camera; and plotting identified lane markers on the response map; compare the response map to the region map; and iteratively generate a predicted vehicle location based on the comparison of the response map and the region map.

Lane marking localization and fusion

Techniques for performing multi-sensor calibration on a vehicle are described. A method includes obtaining, from each of at least two sensors located on a vehicle, sensor data item of a road comprising a lane marker, extracting, from each sensor data item, a location information of the lane marker, and calculating extrinsic parameters of the at least two sensors based on determining a difference between the location information of the lane marker from each sensor data item and a previously stored location information of the lane marker.

Multi-sensor calibration system

Image processing techniques are described to obtain an image from a camera located on a vehicle while the vehicle is being driven, cropping a portion of the obtained image corresponding to a region of interest, detecting an object in the cropped portion, adding a bounding box around the detected object, determining position(s) of reference point(s) on the bounding box, and determining a location of the detected object in a spatial region where the vehicle is being driven based on the determined one or more positions of the second set of one or more reference points on the bounding box.

Perception system for autonomous vehicles

An example method for performing multi-sensor collaborative calibration on a vehicle includes obtaining, from at least two sensors located on a vehicle, sensor data items of an area that comprises a plurality of calibration objects; determining, from the sensor data items, attributes of the plurality of calibration objects; determining, for the at least two sensors, an initial matrix that describes a first set of extrinsic parameters between the at least two sensors based at least on the attributes of the plurality of calibration objects; determining an updated matrix that describes a second set of extrinsic parameters between the at least two sensors based at least on the initial matrix and a location of at least one calibration object; and performing autonomous operation of the vehicle using the second set of extrinsic parameters and additional sensor data received from the at least two sensors.

Multi-sensor collaborative calibration system

Techniques are described for estimating pose of a camera located on a vehicle. An exemplary method of estimating camera pose includes obtaining, from a camera located on a vehicle, an image including a lane marker on a road on which the vehicle is driven, and estimating a pose of the camera such that the pose of the camera provides a best match according to a criterion between a first position of the lane marker determined from the image and a second position of the lane marker determined from a stored map of the road.

Camera pose estimation techniques

Techniques for performing a sensor calibration using sequential data is disclosed. An example method includes receiving, from a first camera located on a vehicle, a first image comprising at least a portion of a road comprising lane markers, where the first image is obtained by the camera at a first time; obtaining a calculated value of a position of an inertial measurement (IM) device at the first time; obtaining an optimized first extrinsic matrix of the first camera by adjusting a function of a first actual pixel location of a location of a lane marker in the first image and an expected pixel location of the location of the lane marker; and performing autonomous operation of the vehicle using the optimized first extrinsic matrix of the first camera when the vehicle is operated on another road or at another time.

Multi-sensor sequential calibration system

Image processing techniques are described to select and crop a region of interest from an image obtained from a camera located on or in a vehicle, such as an autonomous semi-trailer truck. The region of interest can be identified by selecting one or more reference points and determining one or more positions of the one or more reference points on the image obtained from the camera. As an example, a location of two reference points may be 500 meters and 1000 meters in front of a location of autonomous vehicle, where the front of the autonomous vehicle is an area towards which the autonomous vehicle is being driven.

Partitioning images obtained from an autonomous vehicle camera

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for lane marking localization that may be utilized by autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles traveling within the lane. In an embodiment, the system comprises a locating device adapted to determine the vehicle's geographic location; a database; a region map; a response map; a camera; and a computer connected to the locating device, database, and camera, wherein the computer is adapted to: receive the region map, wherein the region map corresponds to a specified geographic location; generate the response map by receiving information from the camera, the information relating to the environment in which the vehicle is located; identifying lane markers observed by the camera; and plotting identified lane markers on the response map; compare the response map to the region map; and generate a predicted vehicle location based on the comparison of the response map and the region map.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for iterative lane marking localization that may be utilized by autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles traveling within the lane. In an embodiment, the system comprises a locating device adapted to determine the vehicle's geographic location; a database; a region map; a response map; a plurality of cameras; and a computer connected to the locating device, database, and cameras, wherein the computer is adapted to receive the region map, wherein the region map corresponds to a specified geographic location; generate the response map by receiving information from the camera, the information relating to the environment in which the vehicle is located; identifying lane markers observed by the camera; and plotting identified lane markers on the response map; compare the response map to the region map; and iteratively generate a predicted vehicle location based on the comparison of the response map and the region map.

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Chenzhe Qian