# SpotNet: An Image Centric, Lidar Anchored Approach To Long Range Perception

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.15843 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.15843/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 32 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 May 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [PointNet: Deep Learning on Point Sets for 3D Classification and Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00593/) (2016)
- [PointNet++: Deep Hierarchical Feature Learning on Point Sets in a Metric Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.02413/) (2017)
- [PointPillars: Fast Encoders for Object Detection from Point Clouds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.05784/) (2018)
- [Pseudo-LiDAR from Visual Depth Estimation: Bridging the Gap in 3D Object Detection for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.07179/) (2018)
- [PointPainting: Sequential Fusion for 3D Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.10150/) (2019)
- [BEVFusion: A Simple and Robust LiDAR-Camera Fusion Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13790/) (2022)
- [Joint 3D Proposal Generation and Object Detection from View Aggregation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.02294/) (2017)
- [3D Bounding Box Estimation Using Deep Learning and Geometry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00496/) (2016)
- [Deep Continuous Fusion for Multi-Sensor 3D Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.10992/) (2020)
- [Fast and Furious: Real Time End-to-End 3D Detection, Tracking and Motion Forecasting with a Single Convolutional Net](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.12395/) (2020)
- [Multi-Task Multi-Sensor Fusion for 3D Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.12397/) (2020)
- [CenterMask : Real-Time Anchor-Free Instance Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.06667/) (2019)
- [Deep Parametric Continuous Convolutional Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.06742/) (2021)
- [IntentNet: Learning to Predict Intention from Raw Sensor Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.07907/) (2021)
- [PnPNet: End-to-End Perception and Prediction with Tracking in the Loop](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.14711/) (2020)
- [GS3D: An Efficient 3D Object Detection Framework for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.10955/) (2019)
- [MonoGRNet: A Geometric Reasoning Network for Monocular 3D Object Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.10247/) (2018)
- [HDNET: Exploiting HD Maps for 3D Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.11704/) (2020)
- [Sensor Fusion for Joint 3D Object Detection and Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.11466/) (2019)
- [Multi-View Fusion of Sensor Data for Improved Perception and Prediction in Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.11901/) (2020)
- [Triangulation Learning Network: from Monocular to Stereo 3D Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.01193/) (2019)
- [MonoLoco: Monocular 3D Pedestrian Localization and Uncertainty Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.06059/) (2019)
- [Mono3D++: Monocular 3D Vehicle Detection with Two-Scale 3D Hypotheses and Task Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.03446/) (2019)
- [Robust Semantic Segmentation in Adverse Weather Conditions by means of Sensor Data Fusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.10117/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Robust Long-Range Perception Against Sensor Misalignment in Autonomous Vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.11196/) (2024)
- [Robust sensor fusion against on-vehicle sensor staleness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.05780/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we propose SpotNet: a fast, single stage, image-centric but LiDAR anchored approach for long range 3D object detection. We demonstrate that our approach to LiDAR/image sensor fusion, combined with the joint learning of 2D and 3D detection tasks, can lead to accurate 3D object detection with very sparse LiDAR support. Unlike more recent bird's-eye-view (BEV) sensor-fusion methods which scale with range r as O(r2), SpotNet scales as O(1) with range. We argue that such an architecture is ideally suited to leverage each sensor's strength, i.e. semantic understanding from images and accurate range finding from LiDAR data. Finally we show that anchoring detections on LiDAR points removes the need to regress distances, and so the architecture is able to transfer from 2MP to 8MP resolution images without re-training.