These instructions are intended to give a comprehensive guide to the user for the recording of data that can then be sent back to Navtech to give the user localisation performance and results in the intended environment/use case.
How Does This Process Work?
The radar-only localisation system works by first creating a map of radar data that any vehicle with a Navtech Radar on board can use as a reference to localise itself. This will give cm accurate localisation results in all conditions and in areas where GPS would be unreliable or unavailable.
Therefore, the first stage of a trial is deciding a route you need to localise your vehicle in. We encourage users to repeat the data recording process along several different routes, to cover all use cases that the localisation system will be used in. The first stage in recording is a mapping run. The second stage is the localisation run. The third stage is sending this data to Navtech to process and then return to you the localisation performance results.
Prepare your test vehicle
1.) Mount radar sensor on your intended vehicle (autonomous or human-driven) with power and laptop connection. Field of view can be 360 degrees or less. The larger the field of view, the better but a full 360 view is not required.
2.) Time Sync the Radar. This is a very important step. The radar uses NTP time synchronisation. An NTP server must be assigned to the radar. Documentation for configuring the radar to use an NTP server can be found here.
2.) Picture and Diagram of the mounting position and orientation of the radar unit should be captured and provided to Navtech - the radar should be oriented facing forwards, as level as possible and with an unobstructed view over the vehicle. The following details are required:
Where on the vehicle has the unit been mounted ? e.g. what are the measurements of the vehicle, and measurements from the middle of the base of the sensor to the centre of the rear-axel of the vehicle ?
Is the sensor unit level or tilted in any direction and by how much ?
Is the sensor unit blocked or obstructed in anyway ?
3.) Record the field of view of the sensor. Refer to documentation to turn on ‘Sector Blanking’ if you wish to operate with a restricted field of view.
4.) Download the Navtech Colossus Record Tool for data recording and SPxRadarViewLite/ROS driver to visualize radar data to check everything is working correctly in your setup. We would advise RadarViewLite. The ROS driver is more useful for developing your own radar data processing tools. Recording tool documentation can be found here.
5.) Decide a route you wish to localise over. This route can be from point A to point B or a loop. Ideally the route would be a loop i.e. start and end location are the same. This is the route along which you will map the environment and then localise through.
6) Setup verification. At least 2 datasets should be recorded and shared immediately back to Navtech to confirm that the data and setup are ok for data collection and subsequent analysis. This ensures there is no time wasted with an incorrect setup.
Data Recording
A Run = a single, complete traversal of the intended route by the vehicle
A Data Recording Session = a collection of Runs along a single route on a single day.
At least two Runs should be recorded in a Data Recording Session - preferably 3 or 4 separate Runs. (1 Mapping + 2 or 3 localisation runs). Please note: all runs should be recorded as separate files.
Naming convention of data files should be clear , ( for example , 2020-01-01-13-30-00-route-1 ) and logged or recorded information should include :
date, start time and end time of the run.
route reference (e.g. if there are multiple routes).
notes and description of any events or obstacles on the route, including where and when.
Note, name of the recorded radar data file must not be changed from the name generated by the recording tool. Therefore, create a folder with this naming convention to store the data and a text file with any extra information in.
Data Recording - Run 1 (Mapping)
1.) Make sure vehicle is in its starting position on the route with recording tool ready to use.
2.) Start the recording tool and drive the route slowly ~10mph/15kmh (start camera recording too if possible)
e.g. For a radar on ip address 10.77.2.211
ColossusNetRecordPlayback.exe record -i 10.77.2.211
3.) Reach the end of the route. If driving a full loop, continue driving slightly past the starting position. A small amount of overlap is useful for closing the loop. For the avoidance of doubt, always continue driving a small distance after reaching the start location. This is much better than stopping before the start location.
4.) End the recording (Ctrl + C). Record in a text file any interesting events that happened during the run (e.g. diversion from intended route along with information such as approximate average speed.)
Data Recording - Run 2+ (Localisation)
1.) Vehicle is in starting position on the route with recording tool ready to use.
2.) Start the recording tool and drive the route
3.) End the recording. Record in a text file any information as listed above.
4.) Repeat the localisation run several times so reliable performance can be proven.
Performance Results
1.) Repeat the data recording stages several times. For a full analysis and performance assessment - data from at least 5 separate runs should be provided. These do not have to be collected all in one session, however the requirement of at least two datasets per session still holds. i.e. minimum: 5 data recording sessions with a Mapping run and a Localisation run recorded separately.
2.) Transfer recorded Radar data back to Navtech using your preferred sharing method
3.) Navtech will process the data and generate localisation results
4.) Navtech will send you the results and propose next steps.