Terramax vision at the urban challenge 2007

Abstract—This paper presents the TerraMax vision systems used during the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. First, a descrip-tion of the different vision systems is provided, focusing on their hardware configuration, calibration method, and tasks. Then, each component is described in detail, focusing on the algorithms and sensor fusion opportunities: obstacle detection, road marking detection, and vehicle detection. The conclusions summarize the lesson learned from the developing of the passive sensing suite and its successful fielding in the Urban Challenge. Index Terms—Autonomous vehicles, data fusion, lane detection, obstacle detection, Urban Challenge, vision systems. I