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Measuring trajectory error

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When developing localization systems, the output trajectory's error needs to be quantified.

The output global trajectory from the online system is compared against a reference ground-truth trajectory. The reference trajectory would be generated with better sensors + offline post processing.

Common metrics

  • Translation and rotation % error
  • Median & Max translation and rotation errors
  • Absolute Trajectory Error & Relative Pose Errors - commonly used in SLAM papers

Visualization

  • Convert the errors to vehicle frame for better interpretation
  • 3 line plots of x, y, z, roll, pitch, yaw
  • Map overlay of the errors
  • Covariance estimate of localization vs actual error
  • Compare errors of different localization inputs: wheel odometry, LIDAR registration, GPS

Resources

  • https://github.com/MichaelGrupp/evo