Patent attributes
Systems, methods, tangible non-transitory computer-readable media, and devices for operating an autonomous vehicle are provided. For example, a vehicle computing system can receive sensor data including information based on sensor outputs associated with detection of objects in an environment by sensors of a vehicle. Inflection points can be determined based at least in part on the sensor data. The inflection points can correspond to portions of the objects that occlude detection of the environment beyond the portions of the objects. A set of polar coordinates can be determined for each of the one or more inflection points. The set of polar coordinates can include a distance from the sensors to a portion of the objects and an angle of the sensor with respect to the portion of the objects. Furthermore, sparse map data including the set of polar coordinates can be generated based on the set of polar coordinates.