Extent Estimation of Sailing Boats Applying Elliptic Cones to 3D LiDAR Data

In this paper, approximating the shape of a sailing boat using elliptic cones is investigated. Measurements are assumed to be gathered from the target's surface recorded by 3D scanning devices such as multilayer LiDAR sensors. Therefore, different models for estimating the sailing boat's extent are presented and evaluated in simulated and real-world scenarios. In particular, the measurement source association problem is addressed in the models. Simulated investigations are conducted with a static and a moving elliptic cone. The real-world scenario was recorded with a Velodyne Alpha Prime (VLP-128) mounted on a ferry of Lake Constance. Final results of this paper constitute the extent estimation of a single sailing boat using LiDAR data applying various measurement models.