US Patent 9529087 Curb detection using lidar with sparse measurements

A method of detecting curb-like barriers along a route of travel using a lidar sensing system. Sparse measurement per each ray tracing is captured from a sensor using the lidar sensing system. Each ray tracing is analyzed separately by a processor. Curb candidates are identified for each respective beam. Curb candidates are combined to generate multiple curb representative hypotheses. A weighting factor is applied to each curb hypothesis. Curb hypothesis that represents the curb is selected. The curb detection is applied to an autonomous guidance system related to guiding a vehicle along the route of travel.