Fuzzy estimation and segmentation for laser range scans

In tracking applications objects are often regarded as point targets. For modern sensors the assumption that one object creates at most one measurement is often not fulfilled any more due to the increasing sensor resolution capabilities. Thus, an estimation of the number of objects is necessary. Using threshold based segmentations for the estimation leads to hard decisions. Using a fuzzy estimation and segmentation, hard decisions are avoided. In the proposed fuzzy segmentation method the segments are weighted according to the confidence in the segment. The results of the fuzzy segmentation are compared with the threshold based segmentation. Further, extended objects are created out of the fuzzy segments of two laser scanners.