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Automated vehicles use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors for environmental scanning. However, the relative motion between the scanning LiDAR sensor and objects leads to a distortion of the point cloud. This phenomenon is known as the motion distortion effect, significantly degrading the sensor’s object detection capabilities and generating false negative or false positive errors. In this work, we have introduced ray tracing-based deterministic and analytical approaches to model the motion distortion effect on the scanning LiDAR sensor’s performance for simulation-based testing. In addition, we have performed dynamic test drives at a proving ground to compare real LiDAR data with the motion distortion effect simulation data. The real-world scenarios, the environmental conditions, the digital twin of the scenery, and the object of interest (OOI) are replicated in the virtual environment of commercial software to obtain the synthetic LiDAR data. The real and the virtual test drives are compared frame by frame to validate the motion distortion effect modeling. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), the occupied cell ratio (OCR), and the Barons cross-correlation coefficient (BCC) are used to quantify the correlation between the virtual and the real LiDAR point cloud data. The results show that the deterministic approach matches the real measurements better than the analytical approach for the scenarios in which the yaw rate of the ego vehicle changes rapidly.
Measurement performance evaluation of real and virtual automotive light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors is an active area of research. However, no commonly accepted automotive standards, metrics, or criteria exist to evaluate their measurement performance. ASTM International released the ASTM E3125-17 standard for the operational performance evaluation of 3D imaging systems commonly referred to as terrestrial laser scanners (TLS). This standard defines the specifications and static test procedures to evaluate the 3D imaging and point-to-point distance measurement performance of TLS. In this work, we have assessed the 3D imaging and point-to-point distance estimation performance of a commercial micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based automotive LiDAR sensor and its simulation model according to the test procedures defined in this standard. The static tests were performed in a laboratory environment. In addition, a subset of static tests was also performed at the proving ground in natural environmental conditions to determine the 3D imaging and point-to-point distance measurement performance of the real LiDAR sensor. In addition, real scenarios and environmental conditions were replicated in the virtual environment of a commercial software to verify the LiDAR model’s working performance. The evaluation results show that the LiDAR sensor and its simulation model under analysis pass all the tests specified in the ASTM E3125-17 standard. This standard helps to understand whether sensor measurement errors are due to internal or external influences. We have also shown that the 3D imaging and point-to-point distance estimation performance of LiDAR sensors significantly impacts the working performance of the object recognition algorithm. That is why this standard can be beneficial in validating automotive real and virtual LiDAR sensors, at least in the early stage of development. Furthermore, the simulation and real measurements show good agreement on the point cloud and object recognition levels.