3 D Laser Based Obstacle Detection for Autonomous Driving Dirk Hähnel

In urban environments, the vehicle encounters a wide variety of static and moving obstacles. Obstacles as small as a curb may trip a fast-moving vehicle, so detecting small objects is of great importance. Overhangs and trees may look large obstacles at a distance, but traveling underneath is often possible. Thus, obstacle detection must consider the 3D geometry of the world. Figure 1 depicts a typical output of the obstacle detection routine in an urban environment. Each red object corresponds to an obstacle. Towards the bottom right, a camera image is shown for reference.