CARB-Net: Camera-Assisted Radar-Based Network for Vulnerable Road User Detection

Ensuring a reliable perception of vulnerable road users is crucial for safe Autonomous Driving. Radar stands out as an appealing sensor choice due to its resilience in adverse weather, cost-effectiveness, depth sensing capabilities, and established role in adaptive cruise control. Nevertheless, radar's limited angular resolution poses challenges in object recognition, especially in distinguishing targets in close proximity. To tackle this limitation, we present the Camera-Assisted Radar-Based Network (CARB-Net), a novel and efficient framework that merges the angular accuracy of a camera with the robustness and depth sensing capabilities of radar. We integrate camera detection information through a ground plane feed-forward array, entangling it with the early stages of a radar-based detection network. Furthermore, we introduce a unique context learning approach to ensure graceful degradation in situations of poor radar Doppler information or unfavorable camera viewing conditions. Experimental validations on two datasets, along with benchmark comparisons, showcase CARB-Net's superiority, boasting up to a 12% improvement in mAP performance. A series of ablation studies further emphasize the efficacy of the CARB-Net architecture.