US Patent 10401866 Methods and systems for lidar point cloud anomalies

Systems and method are provided for controlling an autonomous vehicle. In one embodiment, a method for controlling an autonomous vehicle comprises obtaining lidar data from one or more lidar sensors disposed on the autonomous vehicle during operation of the autonomous vehicle, generating a lidar point cloud using the lidar data, making an initial determination, via a processor onboard the autonomous vehicle, of a possible lidar point cloud anomaly based on a comparison of the lidar point cloud with prior lidar point cloud information stored in memory, receiving a notification from a remote module as to whether the possible lidar point cloud anomaly is a confirmed lidar point cloud anomaly, and taking one or more vehicle actions when there is a confirmed lidar point cloud anomaly.