SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING LASER CAMERA FUSION FOR IDENTIFYING AND TRACKING A TRAFFIC PARTICIPANT

A system and method for providing laser camera fusion for identifying and tracking a traffic participant that include receiving an image of a surrounding environment of a vehicle and a set of object coordinates of at least one object determined within the surrounding environment of the vehicle. The system and method also include determining a portion of the image as object space based on the image and the set of object coordinates and filtering the object space to identify a traffic related object. Additionally, the system and method include determining a three dimensional position of the traffic related object and classifying the traffic related object as at least one of: the traffic participant, or a non-traffic participant. The system and method further include tracking the traffic participant based on a three dimensional position of the traffic related object classified as the traffic participant.