Modern, automated driver assistance systems require a large number of sensors in order to analyze the vehicle’s environment precisely and derive safe driving maneuvers. To further advance the development of these ADAS and AD solutions, ZF has developed the cloud-based and AI-enabled validation service ZF Annotate.
Precise and reliable data is essential for the development of advanced assistance systems in vehicles. Cameras, radar, lidar or ultrasonic sensors continuously supply information from which the vehicle creates a three-dimensional image of its environment. The systems must recognize a wide variety of objects in real time, including vehicles, people, lanes and traffic signs, for example.
This sensor data must be processed digitally correctly so that the vehicle always receives the “absolute truth”—known in the industry as “ground truth”—to calculate and implement a driving function based on it. Comparing the collected sensor information with a reliable and high-precision reference sensor set increases accuracy. This is where ZF Annotate comes in.
Based on the customer’s own vehicle data and additional ZF sensor data recordings—the reference measurement—the cloud-based service solution provides the ground truth. ZF Annotate acts as a redundant setup that is independent of the sensor set to be checked and is confronted with the same information while driving on the road.
The recorded data is then uploaded to the cloud and analyzed. Due to artificial intelligence, all relevant objects are accurately marked, classified, attributed and assigned unique ID numbers and moving objects are tracked. This object information forms part of the complete description of the environment model.
After this annotation, the software provides a highly precise comparative measurement. This makes ZF Annotate an advanced AI-supported validation solution for testing and training modern ADAS/AD systems from Level 2+ to Level 5.
Previous comparable systems mainly relied on 2D annotation for the validation of reference data and thus map the environment in distance and horizontal angle. The 3D-capable ZF Annotate adds height information to the data.
The precise and reliable data from ZF Annotate’s reference measurements can therefore significantly accelerate the development and fine-tuning of complex ADAS and AD systems. Until now, the validation of such systems involved a great deal of work and was correspondingly time-consuming and costly, as the reference data was traditionally annotated manually by humans.
With ZF Annotate, we are able to generate a ground truth in the shortest possible time. With the ability to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, our cloud-based service completes the validation of reference data in a remarkably short time compared to the market, without any loss of quality.
—Klaus Hofmockel, Head of Research and Development in the Driver Assistance Systems and Electronics division
Depending on customer requirements, the reference sensors are either used on the test vehicle itself or in Pursuit mode. This is a sensor set mounted on a separate reference data vehicle. Pursuit mode can be used without major adjustments to the vehicle being tested—for example, when evaluating parking scenarios in public spaces.
This flexibility in application makes ZF Annotate independent of specific sensor manufacturers. The otherwise cost-intensive modification of customers’ high-tech test vehicles is also no longer necessary. Customers can therefore also include the service in development projects that have already been started.
Furthermore, the reference data recorded is not just limited to a front view. Depending on customer requirements, the reference sensor set can provide a comprehensive 360-degree view, providing a detailed and precise representation of the vehicle’s surroundings.
ZF Annotate can be used across all vehicle classes in both the passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors.
Source from Green Car Congress
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