#autonomous system

[dorleco]

Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Introduction

The entire discussion on Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles consists of one major point – will the vehicle’s brain (i.e., the computer) be able to make decisions just like a human brain does?

Now whether or not a computer can make these decisions is an altogether different topic, but it is just as important for an automotive company working on self-driving technology to provide the computer with the necessary and sufficient data to make decisions.

This is where sensors, and in particular, their integration with the computing system comes into the picture.

Types of Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles:

There are three main types of Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles used to map the environment around an autonomous vehicle – vision-based (cameras), radio-based (radar), and light/laser-based (LiDAR).

These three types of Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles have been explained below in brief:

Cameras

High-resolution video cameras can be installed in multiple locations around the vehicle’s body to gain a 360° view of the surroundings of the vehicle. They capture images and provide the data required to identify different objects such as traffic lights, pedestrians, and other cars on the road.

Source: How Does a Self-Driving Car See? | NVIDIA Blog

The biggest advantage of using data from high-resolution cameras is that objects can be accurately identified and this is used to map 3D images of the vehicle’s surroundings. However, these cameras don’t perform as accurately in poor weather conditions such as nighttime or heavy rain/fog.

Types of vision-based sensors used:

Monocular vision sensor

Monocular vision Sensors in Autonomous vehicles make use of a single camera to help detect pedestrians and vehicles on the road. This system relies heavily on object classification, meaning it will detect classified objects only. These systems can be trained to detect and classify objects through millions of miles of simulated driving.

When it classifies an object, it compares the size of this object with the objects it has stored in memory. For example, let’s say that the system has classified a certain object as a truck.

If the system knows how big a truck appears in an image at a specific distance, it can compare the size of the new truck and calculate the distance accordingly.

A test scene with detected classified (blue bounding box) and unclassified objects (red bounding box). Source: https://www.foresightauto.com/stereo-vs-mono/

But if the system encounters an object which it is unable to classify, that object will go undetected. This is a major concern for autonomous system developers.

Stereo vision sensor

A stereo vision system consists of a dual-camera setup, which helps in accurately measuring the distance to a detected object even if it doesn’t recognize what the object is.

Since the system has two distinct lenses, it functions as a human eye and helps perceive the depth of a certain object.

Since both lenses capture slightly different images, the system can calculate the distance between the object and the camera based on triangulation.

Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Source: https://sites.tufts.edu/eeseniordesignhandbook/files/2019/05/David_Lackner_Tech_Note_V2.0.pdf

Radar Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Radar Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles make use of radio waves to read the environment and get an accurate reading of an object’s size, angle, and velocity.

A transmitter inside the sensor sends out radio waves and based on the time these waves take to get reflected back to the sensor, the sensor will calculate the size and velocity of the object as well as its distance from the host vehicle.

Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Source: https://riversonicsolutions.com/self-driving-cars-expert-witness-physics-drives-the-technology/

Radar sensors have been used previously in weather forecasting as well as ocean navigation. The reason for this is that it performs quite consistently across a varying set of weather conditions, thus proving to be better than vision-based sensors.

However, they are not always accurate when it comes to identifying a specific object and classifying it (which is an important step in making decisions for a self-driving car).

RADAR sensors can be classified based on their operating distance ranges:

Short Range Radar (SRR): (0.2 to 30m) – The major advantage of short-range radar sensors is to provide high resolution to the images being detected. This is of utmost importance, as a pedestrian standing in front of a larger object may not be properly detected in low resolutions.

Medium Range Radar (MRR): 30 to 80m

Long-Range Radar (LRR): (80m to more than 200m) – These sensors are most useful for Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and highway Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems.

LiDAR sensors

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) offers some positives over vision-based and radar sensors. It transmits thousands of high-speed laser light waves, which when reflected, give a much more accurate sense of a vehicle’s size, distance from the host vehicle, and its other features.

Many pulses create distinct point clouds (a set of points in 3D space), which means a LiDAR sensor will give a three-dimensional view of a certain object as well.

Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Source: How LiDAR Fits Into the Future of Autonomous Driving

LiDAR sensors often detect small objects with high precision, thus improving the accuracy of object identification. Moreover, LiDAR sensors can be configured to give a 360° view of the objects around the vehicle as well, thus reducing the requirement for multiple sensors of the same type.

The drawback, however, is that LiDAR sensors have a complex design and architecture, which means that integrating a LiDAR sensor into a vehicle can increase manufacturing costs multifold.

Moreover, these sensors need high computing power, which makes them difficult to be integrated into a compact design.

Most LiDAR sensors use a 905 nm wavelength, which can provide accurate data up to 200 m in a restricted field of view. Some companies are also working on 1550 nm LiDAR sensors, which will have even better accuracy over a longer range.

Ultrasonic Sensors

Ultrasonic Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles are mostly used in low-speed applications in automobiles.

Most parking assist systems have ultrasonic sensors, as they provide an accurate reading of the distance between an obstacle and the car, irrespective of the size and shape of the obstacle.

The ultrasonic sensor consists of a transmitter-receiver setup. The transmitter sends ultrasonic sound waves and based on the time period between transmission of the wave and its reception, the distance to the obstacle is calculated.

Sensors in Autonomous Vehicles

Source: Ultrasonic Sensor working applications and advantages

The detection range of ultrasonic sensors ranges from a few centimetres to 5m, with an exact measurement of distance.

They can also detect objects at a very small distance from the vehicle, which can be extremely helpful while parking your vehicle.

Ultrasonic sensors can also be used to detect conditions around the vehicle and help with V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) and V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure) connectivity.

Sensor data from thousands of such connected vehicles can help in building algorithms for autonomous vehicles and offers reference data for several scenarios, conditions and locations.

Challenges in handling sensors

The main challenge in handling sensors is to get an accurate reading from the sensor while filtering out the noise. Noise means the additional vibrations or abnormalities in a signal, which may reduce the accuracy and precision of the signal.

It is important to tell the system which part of the signal is important and which needs to be ignored. Noise filtering is a set of processes that are performed to remove the noise contained within the data.

Noise Filtering

The main cause for uncertainty being generated through the use of individual sensors is the unwanted noise or interference in the environment.

Of course, any data picked up by any sensor in the world consists of the signal part (which we need) and the noise part (which we want to ignore). But the uncertainty lies in not understanding the degree of noise present in any data.

Normally, high-frequency noise can cause a lot of distortions in the measurements of the sensors. Since we want the signal to be as precise as possible, it is important to remove such high-frequency noise.

Noise filters are divided into linear (e.g., simple moving average) and non-linear (e.g., median) filters. The most commonly used noise filters are:

Low-pass filter – It passes signals with a frequency lower than a certain cut-off frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cut-off frequency.

High-pass filter – It passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cut-off frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cut-off frequency.

Other common filters include Kalman filter, Recursive Least Square (RLS), Least Mean Square Error (LMS).

Autonomous Vehicle Feature Development at Dorle Controls

At Dorle Controls, we strive to provide bespoke software development and integration solutions for autonomous vehicles as well.

This includes individual need-based application software development as well as developing the entire software stack for an autonomous vehicle. Write to info@dorleco.com to know more about our capabilities in this domain.

Boost Your Knowledge More

[thebibliosphere]

I had the worst dysautonomia attack last night. Just absolutely horrendous, almost wanted to go to the ER levels of debilitating.

Couldn’t figure out what triggered it. Surely if I was going to have an attack it would have been during that absolutely wild weather we had the night before? So why now, why last night?

My period showed up today 🫠

It really does just fucking destroy everything.

[chronicillnesshumor]

[wordswhisperinthedark]

Rewatched the episode w/ the fam and I noticed something...

So when Lin Ling does the headbutt after declaring that he chose to become a hero to protect someone he truly cares about, his chara song 'JEOPARDY' gets played; signaling his fight as an ordinary person.

BUT when his Trust Value increases again, 'PARAGON' — Nice's chara song — is what starts to play, and continues playing until his fight w/ God Eye is over.

Isn't this basically highlighting that he is still trapped in the hero system? With PARAGON's lyrics about being a symbol, a model, a guide, it's as if they're saying that Lin Ling is just replacing Nice, but in an even more concrete way now that the switch is fueled by the public? 'JEOPARDY' isn't played as long, perhaps suggesting that Lin Ling as an identity matters less than what he represents?

Maybe if he starts going against the Hero System 'JEOPARDY' will play more?

[crippledcryptidd]

I don’t see many post on inappropriate sinus tachycardia so i’m gonna make some starting with an explanation of it

inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) is a form of dysautonomia causing someone to experience sinus tachycardia, this makes the heart rate 100+ bpm at rest and and 90+ bpm over a 24 hour period without an identifiable cause. IST can be asymptomatic but many with it experience symptoms

Before i go on i will explain some of these terms

Dysautonomia is an umbrella term for conditions causing dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which is part of the nervous system that controls functions that we don’t think about or control. Things like heart rate, sweat production, pupil size, and much more

Sinus tachycardia is when the sinoartiral node of the heart send signals to make the heart beat fast. Causing tachycardia which is a faster than normal heart rate, normal heart rate is 60-100 bpm, 100+ bpm is tachycardia

IST is defined as a heart rate of 100+ bpm while at rest and a heart rate of 90+ bpm over a 24 hour period. There is no identifiable cause and IST is a diagnosis of exclusion and other things must be ruled out.

IST can be asymptomatic but many people with it experience distressing symptoms like (not a full list)

Palpitations (uncomfortable feelings in chest from fast heart rate)

Chest pain

Shortness of breath

Issues with exercise

Presyncope (feeling like you’re going to pass out

Syncope (passing out

Some with inappropriate sinus tachycardia will also have jumps in their heart rate from mild exertion

Treatment for IST may include certain medications such as beta blockers, calcium channel blockers

ivabradine is shown to be effective but is not yet approved for treatment of IST

People may also use other forms of treatment like exercise training and lifestyle changes

Sinus node ablation is a surgery some get for IST which is seen to be effective at first but a lot of people with it notice that it reoccurs in a few months

Lowering heart rate in those with IST may not always improve symptoms

Sources and more information

https://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID=228

[tizzychardia]

Does anyone else just want to have their nervous system ripped out of them like grabbing a fistfull of spaghetti, then just profusely beating the shit out of it before cramming it back into your body with an agressive"THERE. NOW WORK" and slamming the metaphorical panel shut like a 90's sitcom grandpa ripping wires out of a PC tower because he can't figure out how to connect it to the internet?

[storyweavingspider]

Hey folks with autonomic system disorders like POTS, have you noticed your body increasingly just. Not breathing automatically anymore?

The last couple of weeks I’ve had to manually breathe more than in the past and it’s becoming a Problem.

Like inhaler helps most of the time but otherwise I’m sitting here actively focusing on maintaining a decent breathing pattern and wtf.

[thattheater-kid]

Shoutout to child hosts of teen/adult-bodied systems. System spaces tend to be inherently not accommodating to people like us, and there’s still so much stigma surrounding child alters being “allowed�� to do “adult things” in adult-bodied (and adult-minded) systems.

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

50 years on: Mazda CVS, 1973. Presented 50 years ago at the 20th Tokyo Motor Show in October 1973. A proposal for an autonomous Computer-controller Vehicle System, Mazda went so far as to build a test railway track for the CVS but it never went into production

[space-1z-cool]

Happy Dysautonomia Awareness month. To all people with dysautonomia, i hope your dysautonomia makes you less aware of itself this month.

to all chronically ill and disabled people ever, (gives you so many spoons), here. for these trying times.

also i hope ur able to get a treatment plan that works and doctors that listen. o7

[chronicillnesshumor]

[wheelie-sick]

having the hEDS trifecta + lupus is very frustrating because it's just like "okay where is this symptom coming from?" and no doctor can agree so it doesn't get treated

I have professionally diagnosed MCAS

I'd like to share the symptoms of MCAS can cause:

Constitutional : Fatigue, subjective hyperthermia and/or hypothermia, sweats, change in appetite, weight gain/loss, chemical/physical sensitivities, poor healing

Dermatologic : Urticaria, itch, flushing, hemangiomas with itch/pain, various rashes, telangiectasias, striae, skin tags, folliculitis, ulcers, eczema, angioedema, alopecia, onychodystrophy

Ophthalmologic : Irritated, “dry” eyes, difficulty focusing, blepharospasm

Otologic : Tinnitus, hearing loss, coryza, rhinitis, nasal congestion, epistaxis

Oropharyngeal: Pain, burning, leukoplakia, ulcers, angioedema, dysgeusia, dental and/or periodontal inflammation/decay

Lymphatic: Lymphadenopathy, rare splenomegaly

Pulmonary: Dry cough, dyspnea (difficulty taking a deep breath), wheezing, obstructive sleep apnea

Cardiovascular: Presyncope, hypertension, blood pressure lability, palpitations, edema, chest pain, allergic angina (Kounis syndrome)

Gastrointestinal: Dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and/or constipation, gastroparesis, angioedema, dysphagia (usually proximal), bloating (post-prandial or spontaneous), malabsorption

Genitourinary: Menorrhagia, pelvic pain, endometriosis, vulvodynia, vaginitis, dysmenorrhea, miscarriages, infertility, dysuria

Musculoskeletal: Myalgias, migratory bone/joint pain, osteopenia/osteoporosis

Neurologic : Headache, migraine, sensory neuropathies, dysautonomia, episodic weakness, seizure disorders, non-epileptic seizures, cognitive dysfunction, insomnia, hypersomnolence, restless leg syndrome

Psychiatric: Depression, anger/irritability, mood lability, anxiety, panic, obsession–compulsion, attention deficit/hyperactivity

Hematologic: Easy bruising, polycythemia, anemia

Immunologic: Hypersensitivity reactions, increased risk for malignancy and autoimmunity, impaired healing, increased susceptibility to infection

source

"well that's just everything" ya. that's why I can't figure out where my symptoms are coming from. lupus is also like this. autonomic neuropathy is also like this. my doctors run in circles pointing at the other doctors to solve the problem but none of them want to.

[crippledcryptidd]

Saw cardiology yesterday

I have inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST), a form of dysautonomia

I’m trying a beta blocker that i’m starting tomorrow

My heart itself is ok but other body systems (like my autonomic nervous system) are effecting it causing things like tachycardia which leads to a lot of symptoms

I am going back in early June and have to schedule an appointment with a new neurologist (mines moving and i would have to leave soon since she works at a children’s hospital) but i am going to see if i can have both my neurologist and cardiologist treating my dysautonomia

[virsancte]

tfw you thought you're gonna destroy your future father in law at simbles after playing it for months with a kid you used to babysit but he's somehow unbeatable at every board game

[disabled-dippy]

symptoms of dysautonomia ✿

these are all of the symptoms of dysautonomia I could find. two disclaimers: 1) please don't use this to diagnose yourself, lots of these symptoms overlap with other disorders, and 2) some of these symptoms may only apply to certain dysautonomias and not to others, in which case I will attempt to specify.

also these categories are very nonspecific and kinda weirdly ordered. I just needed to have the symptoms vaguely organized, lol.

neurological

headaches

migraines

dizziness

tinnitus

tremors

vertigo

brain fog

syncope

presyncope

motor / body

weakness/loss of muscle strength

muscle tension

lack of coordination

unsteady gait

stiffness (in MSA)

hypermobility

absence of tendon reflexes

spasms

low tone (in FD)

body/joint pain

sensation / neuropathic

abnormal sensation

neuropathy (numbness/tingling)

insensitivity to pain

diminished sense of temperature

diminished sense of touch

skin

extreme itching

skin reactions/rashes

dry skin

flushing

pale pallor

eyes

dry eye

eye pain

excessive tearing

blurred vision

tunnel vision

vision loss

impaired pupillary response

light sensitivity

ears / mouth

sound sensitivity

dry mouth

tooth decay

difficulty swallowing

abnormal saliva production

circulatory / heart

tachycardia

bradycardia

heart palpitations

irregular heart rate

poor circulation

cold extremities

discolored skin

blood pooling

low blood pressure

high blood pressure

low blood volume

pulmonary / chest

chest pain

shortness of breath

pain while breathing

air hunger

stomach / digestion

general nausea

postprandial nausea

vomiting

indigestion

bloating

abdominal pain

loss of appetite

weight loss

impaired motility/gastric emptying

food intolerances

constipation

diarrhea

frequent urination

painful urination

painful bowel movements

irregular bowel movements

reproductive

irregular periods

painful periods

sexual dysfunction

psychological

anxiety

depression

sense of impending doom

mood swings

poor memory

irritability

sleep

insomnia

night sweats

circadian rhythm disorders

unrestful sleep

general / miscellaneous (aka idk where to put this)

adrenaline dumps

"coat hanger" neck/shoulder pain

temperature intolerance/dysregulation

low body temperature

exercise intolerance

caffeine intolerance

excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis)

lack of sweating (hypohidrosis)

inflammation

galbladder inflammation

galbladder pain

low blood sugar

excessive thirst