FMCW Radar on LiDAR map localization in structural urban environments

• Published in: Journal of field robotics 2024-05, Vol.41 (3), p.699-717
• Main Authors: Ma, Yukai, Li, Han, Zhao, Xiangrui, Gu, Yaqing, Lang, Xiaolei, Li, Laijian, Liu, Yong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3D scan registration; Accuracy; Algorithms; Continuous wave radar; Datasets; GPS denied; Lidar; Localization; Localization method; Multisensor fusion; Optimization; Radar data; Sequences; Simultaneous localization and mapping; Trajectory analysis; Urban environments
• ISSN: 1556-4959; 1556-4967
• DOI: 10.1002/rob.22291

Multisensor fusion‐based localization technology has achieved high accuracy in autonomous systems. How to improve the robustness is the main challenge at present. The most commonly used LiDAR and camera are weather‐sensitive, while the frequency‐modulated continuous wave Radar has strong adaptability but suffers from noise and ghost effects. In this paper, we propose a heterogeneous localization method called Radar on LiDAR Map, which aims to enhance localization accuracy without relying on loop closures by mitigating the accumulated error in Radar odometry in real time. To accomplish this, we utilize LiDAR scans and ground truth paths as Teach paths and Radar scans as the trajectories to be estimated, referred to as Repeat paths. By establishing a correlation between the Radar and LiDAR scan data, we can enhance the accuracy of Radar odometry estimation. Our approach involves embedding the data from both Radar and LiDAR sensors into a density map. We calculate the spatial vector similarity with an offset to determine the corresponding place index within the candidate map and estimate the rotation and translation. To refine the alignment, we utilize the Iterative Closest Point algorithm to achieve optimal matching on the LiDAR submap. The estimated bias is subsequently incorporated into the Radar SLAM for optimizing the position map. We conducted extensive experiments on the Mulran Radar Data set, Oxford Radar RobotCar Dataset, and our data set to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed approach. Our proposed scan projection descriptors achieves homogeneous and heterogeneous place recognition and works much better than existing methods. Its application to the Radar SLAM system also substantially improves the positioning accuracy. All sequences' root mean square error is 2.53 m for positioning and 1.83° for angle.