Robust 3D Perception for any Environment and any Weather Condition using Thermal Stereo

Abstract

We propose a robust and reliable method to generate 3D dense map of surrounding environment using thermal stereo sensor. To realize level 4 and 5 of fully automated driving, we should develop reliable and robust perception modules that works 24 hours every 365 day and night at any weather condition. Today, sensors such as cameras, LIDAR and RADAR are extensively used by OEMs to develop different Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) applications. Though any of these sensors have specific challenges to overcome and we are still far from a reliable and robust perception module for automated driving. Sensors fusion may solve some problems of individual sensor but there are still some challenges that cannot be solved by advanced fusion solutions. Last decade, the thermal sensors had great advances to improve the resolution and accuracy and the sensor price is getting cheaper. The thermal stereo is robust and reliable sensors that may solve current challenges of perception and would be a necessary item of any sensory solutions for future vehicles. In this paper, we propose a thermal stereo solution to generate reliable 3D maps from driving environment. The experiment results shows that we are able to generate accurate and dense 3D map by using the thermal images in any environment.