Vision-Based Race Track SLAM Based Only on Lane Curvature

This paper presents a novel approach for vision-based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) on a high curved track without pose-based landmarks. The proposed approach combines an Iterative Closest Points (ICP) method and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) optimization and comprises four main steps. First, a Kalman filter with a simple circular lane model is used to estimate the road curvature using images from a front camera. Then, the vehicle position and orientation are reconstructed by using the yaw rate and longitudinal speed from inertial sensors. Drift and misalignment of the constructed map are corrected using ICP under the assumption that the vehicle continuously travels the same track. The final map is obtained using SGD optimization, which enforces curvature matching. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm with an environment of the winding track of Hyundai-Kia California Proving Ground (CPG) located in Southern California and the customized ellipsoidal track. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.