Experimental Analysis and internal calibration of the 3D LIDAR reflectivity

LIDAR is widely used in autonomous vehicle research fields because it offers reliable and accurate depth information. Some LIDAR sensors offer both depth information and reflectivity information of the hitting surface in a scene. However, to use the reflectivity information, multiple optical components in the LIDAR must be internally calibrated. The sensor manufacturer provides the internal parameters and correction equations, but these parameters and equations are not generalized in various environment conditions. In this paper, we address an experimental technique to analyze the reflectivity characteristics of a multi-channel 3D LIDAR, and we propose a reflectivity calibration method to minimize the effect of environmental factors. We also analyze the internal and external factors that affect the reflectivity of the LIDAR, such as the measured distances and angles, different channels and reflected materials through various experiments. The performance of the proposed approach is verified with actual environment data. © ICROS 2017.