Patent ID: 11897502
Assignee: GM CRUISE HOLDINGS LLC
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A computed-implemented method for creating a velocity grid using a simulated environment for use by an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
simulating a road scenario with simulated objects;
collecting first LiDAR data from simulated LiDAR sensors in the simulated road scenario, wherein the collected first LiDAR data comprises a first plurality of points that are representative of a first simulated object at a first three-dimensional (3D) location and a first time, a first point representative of a portion of the first simulated object;
transforming the first plurality of points from a simulated-scene frame-of-reference to a first simulated object frame-of-reference;
simulating the first simulated object to move from the first 3D location to a second 3D location within the simulated road scenario between the first time and a second time;
collecting second LiDAR data from the simulated LiDAR sensors in the simulated road scenario at the second time, wherein the collected second LiDAR data comprises a second plurality of points representative of the first simulated object at the second 3D location and a second time, a second point representative of a portion of the first simulated object;
transforming the second plurality of points from the first simulated object frame-of-reference back to the simulated-scene frame-of-reference;
determining a distance between the first point representative of a portion of the first simulated object and the second point representative of a portion of the first simulated object during the simulated movement of the first simulated object calculating the velocity of the portion on the first simulated object in the simulated-scene frame-of-reference during a simulated movement of the first simulated object from the first 3D location to the second 3D location based upon the determined distance; and
encoding the velocity in association with the first point prior to the simulated movement of the simulated object with respect to a second point after the simulated movement of the first simulated object in a 3D velocity grid for the simulated objects.