Extraction of Preview Elevation Information Based on Terrain Mapping and Trajectory Prediction in Real-Time

Preview elevation values are used as inputs to suspensions to improve a vehicle's ride. In a previous study, we obtained preview terrain elevation information in post-processing. In this paper, we contributed a method to reconstruct the terrain elevation map in real-time to extract preview elevation information according to the predicted trajectory. We use interdisciplinary knowledge to solve an engineering problem in the field of mechanical engineering, and the innovation of this manuscript belongs to Engineering Application Innovation. First, in the process of data collection, the terrain elevation map is updated with LIDAR measurements. A Kalman filter is used to update the elevation map. Second, as the vehicle moves, the uncertainty in the vehicle's motion is estimated, and the error variance that propagates to the terrain elevation map is computed. Third, the vehicle trajectory is predicted based on a vehicle kinematics model. According to the predicted trajectory, the elevation information is extracted from the terrain elevation map in advance. The proposed method has been extensively evaluated with the simulations in Gazebo and outdoor environments, and the results demonstrate that the algorithm is effective, with a maximum error of 2.58 cm for the estimated elevation value.