Systems and methods for calibration and validation of non-overlapping range sensors of an autonomous vehicle

Abstract

Methods and systems for validating LiDAR sensor calibration are disclosed. The methods include collecting sensor data corresponding to a calibration environment from a LiDAR sensor and segmenting a reconstructed point cloud of the calibration environment to generate a plurality of planes. The methods also include determining a normal distance between each of a plurality of point cloud sweeps and one or more of the plurality of planes, determining a validation score based on the normal distances, and validating a calibration of the LiDAR sensor in response to determining that the validation score is less than a threshold. Each point cloud sweep is associated with a collection of LiDAR scans at a collection time stamp.