Generic grid mapping for road course estimation

This paper presents a generic grid mapping approach which can be used to map huge areas. A special map definition based on so called grid patches is proposed to limit memory usage and make it real time capable. The grid cells of this map can hold arbitrary data which is calculated based on arbitrary sensors. Here, methods for mapping occupancy likelihoods based on laser scanner data, gray values calculated by an Inverse Perspective Mapping from video images and intensities from an imaging radar sensor are proposed. Furthermore, this contribution presents a road course estimation based on such a grid map which yields estimations above 120 m. Therefore, a digital road map (comparable to maps of GPS navigation systems) is matched to a laser scanner based grid map. In general, this approach is generic as well. Exemplarily, a method based on an occupancy grid map is presented.