Patent ID: 8209144
Filing Date: 2012-06-26
Classification: G01C

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for laser scan alignment comprising: splitting, by a laser scan alignment computer, an area covered by a plurality of laser scans into a first set of grid cells, the first set of grid cells having a first resolution; estimating, by the laser scan alignment computer, a first template surface representation for the first set of grid cells using original poses of the plurality of laser scans; aligning, by the laser scan alignment computer, each laser scan in the plurality of laser scans to the estimated first template surface representation to provide a first updated pose for each laser scan in the plurality of laser scans; splitting, by the laser scan alignment computer, the area covered by the plurality of laser scans into a second set of grid cells, the second set of grid cells having a second resolution, wherein the second resolution of the second set of grid cells is finer than the first resolution of the first set of grid cells; estimating, by the laser scan alignment computer, a second template surface representation for the second set of grid cells using the first updated poses for the plurality of laser scans; and providing, by the laser scan alignment computer, the estimated second template surface representation to a display as a map of the area covered by the plurality of laser scans.