Pedestrian recognition in urban traffic using a vehicle based multilayer laserscanner

Vehicle-mounted laser scanners are able to observe the vehicles environment in order to detect, track and classify the surrounding objects and thus providing data for active safety systems. The latest development of IBEO combines several innovations. The receiver diodes are arranged in an array, which enables simultaneous measurements in 4 horizontal planes, e.g. to compensate pitching of the vehicle. In addition a multi target capability is integrated. This technique enables the detection of two distances with a single measurement, thus enhancing the robustness against rain. This paper introduces improved high speed object detection and high performance object tracking algorithms for real-time data processing. Additionally a classification of the road users is possible. A system architecture for detection and modelling of dynamic traffic scenes is introduced in order to provide a general idea of the different tasks necessary to reach the aim of a complete environmental model using a sensor for a wide range of applications.