Three sensor modalities feed a fusion layer, exactly like a real self-driving
stack: LIDAR sweeps a 360ยฐ point cloud that is precise but slightly scattered by
fog; the camera has the widest semantic field of view but is the most degraded by
poor visibility; radar has the narrowest cone yet barely notices weather at all. A
planner then checks the lane ahead against the vehicle's own stopping distance and
steers around anything it cannot brake for in time.
d_stop = vยทt_reaction + vยฒ / (2ยทa_brake)
confidence = ฮฃ(active_i ยท w_i ยท q_i) / ฮฃ(active_i ยท w_i)
q_lidar = 1 โ 0.35ยทfog w_lidar = 0.40
q_camera = 1 โ 0.90ยทfog w_camera = 0.35
q_radar = 1 โ 0.10ยทfog w_radar = 0.25
margin = distance_to_obstacle_in_lane โ d_stop (negative โ collision risk)
- Speed โ the ego vehicle's cruising speed; higher speed means a longer
stopping distance and less reaction time.
- Weather / fog โ degrades camera range sharply, LIDAR mildly, radar
almost not at all โ the reason real autonomy stacks lean on radar in storms.
- Traffic density โ how many vehicles and pedestrians share the road, so
more objects for the planner to track and avoid.
- LIDAR / Camera / Radar toggles โ switch a modality off to see fusion
confidence and detection drop, just like a sensor dropout in the real world.
- Path planning โ when a tracked object blocks the current lane inside
the braking margin, the car steers to the nearest clear lane; if none is clear it
brakes in place (path line turns red).