The Influence of Multi-sensor Spatio-temporal Synchronization Error on Path Tracking and the Compensation Mechanism

Abstract

The multi-sensor fusion system provides high-precision environmental perception capabilities for autonomous driving, robot navigation and industrial automation by integrating data from heterogeneous sensors such as liDAR, cameras and inertial measurement units (IMUs). However, the time synchronization error and spatial installation deviation among sensors can lead to spatio-temporal inconsistency in data fusion, which in turn causes target splitting, trajectory breaking and control decision-making errors in path tracking. This paper systematically analyzes the sources and influencing mechanisms of spatio-temporal synchronization errors, proposes a solution based on hardware synchronization, dynamic calibration and multi-level compensation, and theoretically discusses the improvement effect of the compensation mechanism on the accuracy and stability of path tracking. Research shows that the precise compensation of spatio-temporal synchronization errors is the core link to ensure the reliable operation of multi-sensor systems.