Nvidia patents road bump detection for self-driving cars
Nvidia describes a method for self-driving vehicles to map the height of the road surface using 3D sensor data. The system filters out obstacles to identify bumps, humps, and holes, creating a profile of the driving path. This data helps the vehicle plan its route and control its movement to handle uneven terrain.
In the filing’s own words
In various examples, surface profile estimation and bump detection may be performed based on a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud. The 3D point cloud may be filtered in view of a portion of an environment including drivable free-space, and within a threshold height to factor out other objects or obstacles other than a driving surface and protuberances thereon. The 3D point cloud may be analyzed—e.g., using a sliding window of bounding shapes along a longitudinal or other heading direction—to determine one-dimensional (1D) signal profiles corresponding to heights along the driving surface. The profile itself may be used by a vehicle—e.g., an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle—to help in navigating the environment, and/or the profile may be used to detect bumps, humps, and/or other protuberances along the driving surface, in addition to a location, orientation, and geometry thereof.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An autonomous or semi-autonomous machine comprising: one or more central processing units (CPUs); one or more graphics processing units (GPUs); one or more hardware accelerators; and a plurality of external sensors associated with a plurality of sensor modalities, the plurality of external sensors having fields of view or sensory fields external to the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine, wherein the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine is to: determine, based at least on sensor data obtained using the plurality of external sensors, one or more locations of at least one of a protuberance or a cavity within an environment; and perform one or more planning, navigation, or control operations based at least on the one or more locations of the at least one of the protuberance or the cavity.
Facts
- Company
- Nvidia (NVIDIA Corporation)
- Official title
- SURFACE PROFILE ESTIMATIONS
- Publication number
- US20260320816A1
- Application number
- 19633773
- Filed
- Mar 30, 2026
- Published
- Oct 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06T 7/60 Physics & computingG06T 7/579 Physics & computingG06V 20/588 Physics & computingG06T 2200/08 Physics & computingG06T 2207/10028 Physics & computingG06T 2207/30256 Physics & computingMore from Nvidia in Cars & transport
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.