Master Thesis - Fusion of RADAR and LiDAR Data for Localization in Outdoor Environments

Master Thesis - Fusion of RADAR and LiDAR Data for Localization in Outdoor Environments

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (www.fraunhofer.com) currently operates 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany and is a leading applied research organization. Around 32,000 employees work with an annual research budget of 3.4 billion euros.

In the Professional Service Robots - Outdoor research group, we develop autonomous, mobile robots for a variety of outdoor applications, such as agriculture and forestry. The focus is on the development of an autonomous outdoor navigation solution as well as the hardware of the robots.

Compared to predictable indoor environments, outdoor areas inherit more unknown obstacles and external influences. The most used sensors to perceive and interpret the environment in robotics are currently cameras and LiDAR sensors. Besides them, RADAR sensors are often used in automated driving and have some benefits in outdoor environments due to their robustness to external influences like rain or fog. By fusing RADAR and LiDAR data, we can improve the robustness of the following localization approaches.

What you will do

This thesis aims to fuse RADAR and LiDAR data to enable more robust localization in challenging outdoor conditions. Based on the current state of research on the use and advantages and disadvantages of the different sensor systems, you will evaluate the potential of fusion for localization purposes. You will design a post-processing pipeline to generate a fused point cloud and a strategy to use this information in a generalized point cloud odometry algorithm. You will implement your algorithms with ROS on our robots and regularly test and evaluate them in different agricultural environments under various weather conditions.

What you bring to the table

• Background in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or similar
• Profound knowledge of C++
• Experience with ROS
• Enthusiasm for mobile robotics
• Fluent in English or German

What you can expect

• Cutting-edge technology in the field of outdoor mobile robotics
• Hands-on experience with our robots on our own test fields in Stuttgart
• Responsibility and freedom to implement your own ideas
• Collaboration with the best students in their discipline
• A familiar atmosphere including Cake Friday

We also offer the possibility of direct entry for excellent graduates.

We value and promote the diversity of our employees' skills and therefore welcome all applications - regardless of age, gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation, and identity. Severely disabled persons are given preference in the event of equal suitability.

If you are interested, please submit a short letter of motivation on your personal favorite topic listed above, CV, and current grade transcript to kevin.bregler@ipa.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA

Requisition Number: 71226 Application Deadline: