Visibility-Based Technologies and Methodologies for Autonomous Driving

The three main elements of autonomous vehicles (AV) are orientation, visibility, and decision. This chapter presents an overview of the implementation of visibility-based technologies and methodologies. The chapter first presents two fundamental aspects that are necessary for understanding the main contents. The first aspect is highway geometric design as it relates to sight distance and highway alignment. The second aspect is mathematical basics, including coordinate transformation and visual space segmentation. Details on the Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) system, which represents the ‘eye’ of the AV are presented. In particular, a new Lidar 3D mapping system, that can be operated on different platforms and modes for a new mapping scheme is described. The visibility methodologies include two types. Infrastructure visibility mainly addresses high-precision maps and sight obstacle detection. Traffic visibility (vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists) addresses identification of critical positions and visibility estimation. Then, an overview of the decision element (path planning and intelligent car-following) for the movement of AV is presented. The chapter provides important information for researchers and therefore should help to advance road safety for autonomous vehicles.