Humanoid test target for the validation of sensor systems on autonomous agricultural machines

Abstract

In the field of safe environment perception of autonomous machines, a realistic humanoid test target is an enabler for the validation of object detection systems for the protection of persons as a key technology. The working area of autonomous mobile machines, such as agricultural machines, is mostly in public outdoor areas. These areas are particularly demanding for object detection systems. In addition to difficult environmental conditions, an exclusion of certain categories of people, such as children, in public areas is not possible as compared to non-public areas. There are standard test targets available either for public outdoor areas or for autonomous systems, but not for the combination of both. For this reason, the following article establishes criteria for such a test target and realized a test target based on experiences from both domains. The new test target has been applied for the evaluation of perception systems in agriculture in cooperation with TÜV. It is a proposal for a humanoid test target for the validation of sensor systems on autonomous agricultural machines.

Keywords

• humanoid test target; autonomous machines; object detection systems; image-based sensor systems