The purpose of this study was to develop an environmental recognition and navigation system for autonomous vehicles using sensors such as a camera, a laser scanner and a GPS. Autonomous vehicles are capable of sensing their environment and navigating ...
The purpose of this study was to develop an environmental recognition and navigation system for autonomous vehicles using sensors such as a camera, a laser scanner and a GPS. Autonomous vehicles are capable of sensing their environment and navigating without human input. Camera and laser scanner algorithms were developed to recognize lanes, obstacles and traffic signals surrounding the autonomous vehicles. Sensor fusion methods ware utilized to recognize these lanes, obstacles and traffic signals by combining images from cameras and laser scanners. In addition, a navigation system was developed to drive the autonomous vehicle to desired locations. Stationary environment information gathered by a DGPS sensor such as the position of stop lanes, traffic signs and obstacles was utilized to estimate the exact vehicle position. The environmental recognition and navigation systems were successfully applied to the autonomous vehicle, proving that the developed system can be used for real-time autonomous driving.