SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COLLISION DETECTION IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Systems and methods are provided for detecting collisions between objects and an autonomous vehicle. The system includes a computer vision system configured to use acquired environmental data to determine a velocity vector of an object relative to the autonomous vehicle and a distance between the object and the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous driving system also includes a vehicle motion sensing module configured to use acquired vehicle motion data to determine an acceleration vector of the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous driving system also includes a collision detection module configured to register a collision between the object and the autonomous vehicle when the determined acceleration vector is detected having a direction that is substantially the same as a direction of the determined velocity vector of the object and when the determined distance between the object and the autonomous vehicle is less than a predetermined amount.