A fast probabilistic ego-motion estimation framework for radar

Abstract

This paper presents a fast, joint spatial- and Doppler velocity-based, probabilistic approach for ego-motion estimation for single and multiple radar-equipped robots. The normal distribution transform is used for the fast and accurate position matching of consecutive radar detections. This registration technique is successfully applied to laser-based scan matching. To overcome discontinuities of the original normal distribution approach, an appropriate clustering technique provides a globally smooth mixed-Gaussian representation. It is shown how this matching approach can be significantly improved by taking the Doppler information into account. The Doppler information is used in a density-based approach to extend the position matching to a joint likelihood optimization function. Then, the estimated ego-motion maximizes this function. Large-scale real world experiments in an urban environment using a 77 GHz radar show the robust and accurate ego-motion estimation of the proposed algorithm. In the experiments, comparisons are made to state-of-the-art algorithms, the vehicle odometry, and a high-precision inertial measurement unit.