GROUND SURFACE ESTIMATION USING SENSOR DATA

A first ground surface associated with a first region along a path of a vehicle is obtained and a a plurality of candidate sensor data points associated with a second region along the path is determined based on sensor data from a sensor associated with the vehicle. For a candidate sensor data point a line is determined from the sensor to said data point and it is determined whether the line passes through the first ground surface. Where it is determined that the line passes through the first ground surface, the candidate point is excluded from a ground plane estimation. Where it is determined that the line does not pass through the first ground surface, a second ground surface associated with the second region is determined based on the candidate point. Control of the vehicle is caused based at least in part on the second ground surface.