A method based on multilayer laserscanner to detect and track pedestrians in urban environment

This article deals with the detection and tracking of pedestrians by means of a laser sensor. This sensor placed on the front of a vehicle collects information about distance distributed according to 4 laser planes. Like a vehicle, a pedestrian constitutes in urban environment an obstacle which must be detected, located, then identified and tracked if necessary. In order to improve the robustness of pedestrian detection using a single laser sensor we use a detection system based on the fusion of information located in the 4 laser planes. A ldquoParzen Windowrdquo kernel method is described and allows the centralized fusion of different planes. Finally to improve our pedestrian detection algorithm we use a particle filter with feedback in laser image allowing a closer observation of pedestrian random movement dynamics. Many experimental results validate and show the relevance of our algorithm in regard to proposed method.