Systematic Categorization of Influencing Factors on Radar-Based Perception to Facilitate Complex Real-World Data Evaluation

For the assessment of machine perception for automated driving it is important to understand the influence of certain environment factors on the sensors used. Especially when investigating large amounts of real-world data to find and understand perception uncertainties, a smart concept is needed to structure and categorize such complex data depending on the level of detail desired for the investigation. Information on performance limitation causes can support realistic sensor modeling, help determining scenarios containing shortcomings of sensors and above all is essential to reach perception safety. The paper at hand looks into influencing factors on radar sensors. It utilizes the fact that radar sensors have been used in vehicles for several decades already. Therefore, previous findings on influencing factors can be used as a starting point when assessing radar-based perception for driver assistance systems and automated driving functions. On top of the literature review on environment factors influencing radar sensors, the paper introduces a modular structuring concept for such that can facilitate real-world data analysis by categorizing the factors possibly leading to performance limitations into different independent clusters in order to reduce the level of detail in complex real-world environments.