Automatic Ground Surface Reconstruction from mobile laser systems for driving simulation engines. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Craciun, Daniela; Deschaud, Jean-Emmanuel; Goulette, Francois
• Is Part Of: Simulation. Volume 93:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 201
• Page End: 211
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: Surface reconstruction -- LiDAR -- driving simulator engines -- road network -- mobile laser systems; Computer simulation -- Periodicals; 003.3
• DOI: 10.1177/0037549716683022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0037-5497

Abstract

Driving simulation engines represent a cost effective solution for vehicle development, being employed for performing feasibility studies and tests failure and for assessing new functionalities. Nevertheless, they require geometrically accurate and realistic three-dimensional (3D) models in order to allow driver training. This paper presents the Automatic Ground Surface Reconstruction method, a framework that exploits 3D data acquired by Mobile Laser Scanning systems. They are particularly attractive due to their fast acquisition at the terrestrial level. Nevertheless, such a mobile acquisition introduces several constraints for the existing 3D surface reconstruction algorithms. The proposed surface modeling framework produces a regular surface and recovers sharp depth features within a scalable and detail-preserving framework. Experimental results on real data acquired in urban environments allow us to conclude on the effectiveness of the proposed method.