Patent ID: 11884292
Assignee: AURORA OPERATIONS, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 13:
14. An autonomous truck, comprising:
(a) a first RADAR sensor comprising a first antenna configured to output a first RADAR beam over a first angular range, the first RADAR beam having a first azimuthal component;
(b) a second RADAR sensor comprising a second antenna configured to output a second RADAR beam having a second azimuthal component that is narrower than the first azimuthal component of the first RADAR beam, wherein the second RADAR sensor is configured to sweep the second RADAR beam over a second angular range which is closer to a rear of the autonomous truck than a front of the autonomous truck, the second angular range configured to be proximate to a trailer coupled to the autonomous truck;
wherein a transmit pattern of the second antenna comprises power focused in a smaller azimuthal component than a transmit pattern of the first antenna; and
(c) an autonomous vehicle control system comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions that are executable to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
(i) obtaining first RADAR data comprising one or more first data points associated with the first angular range of an environment of the autonomous truck from the first RADAR sensor;
(ii) obtaining second RADAR data comprising one or more second data points associated with the second angular range of the environment of the autonomous truck from the second RADAR sensor, wherein obtaining the second RADAR data comprises sweeping the second RADAR beam over the second angular range; and
(iii) detecting one or more objects in the environment of the autonomous truck based on the first RADAR data and the second RADAR data.