The Bee 
Handbook 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
   

 
 

Table of Contents 
 
The Bee Handbook 1 
Table of Contents 2 
Recent Updates & Changelog 4 
January 2019 4 
Quickstart Guide 4 
Annotating Specific Areas 6 
Fast Food Drive-Thrus 6 
When the SDC is in a parking lot 7 
Annotating Apartment Parking Spaces 8 
Annotating Specific Objects 9 
Semi-Trucks 9 
Vehicles with Large Objects on the Roof 10 
Forklifts 11 
Mail Truck, Mail Van, or Mail Lorry 12 
Wood Chippers 13 
Mobile Traffic Control vs Construction Zone Signs and Sign Boards 14 
Common Places to Look For Missing Vehicles 15 
Behind rows of stopped cars at intersections 15 
Behind gas station pumps 16 
Frequent and Common Errors 17 
‘Stopped’ vehicles that are mislabeled as ‘Braking’ 17 
Headlights and Turn Signals ARE NOT Active Signalling 18 
Minivans mislabeled as Vans 19 
Forgetting to label parking lot driveways 20 
Incorrect No Label Zones 21 
Including Echo with Stationary Objects 22 
Over-annotating reflections 23 

2 
 

Recent Updates & 

Changelog 
January 2019 
Incorporated the “Bee Cheat Sheet” into the handbook, and added more 
examples of recent rule changes. 

3 
 

Quickstart Guide 
 
★ Headlights, brakelights, tail-lights, and turn signals ​ARE NOT​ correct forms of 
active signalling. Emergency vehicles, like police cars and ambulances, pickup 
trucks with lights on top, and mobile traffic control vehicles have dedicated 
signals used for active signalling. 
★ Annotate ​all​ vehicles, pedestrians, and other objects when the SDC is in a 
parking lot.  
★ DO NOT​ include echo points   
★ Leave ‘​No Label Zone’​ cuboids at the default 2.0m height. Make sure the 
Z-index is sitting on the ground. 
★ Overlapping cuboids of Semi truck and Trailer is okay 
★ Annotate ​all garbage bins​ on the road, driveway, and sidewalk as “Static Road 
Object - Pushable or Pullable” 
★ Attribute: Only set vehicle motion attribute at “​Braking​” when the brake light is 
visible; if the vehicle is moving and you cannot see the brake light, mark it as 
“​Moving​”; if the vehicle is not moving and you cannot see the brake light, mark 
it as “​Stopped​” 
★ Label any target object containing at least 1 LIDAR or RADAR point​, as long as 
you can see it in street view you want to annotate it (including the 0 points 
frames). Be reasonably sure you know the location and shape of the object. Use 
your best judgment on correct cuboid position, sizing, and heading 
★ Attribute: ​Changing lanes​: When a vehicle is in the middle of crossing road 
lines, this attribute should be applied. If it’s unclear whether the car is crossing 
lines or not mark it as moving is always a safe bet. 
★ Annotate all underpass and overpass objects  
★ Include everything on top of a vehicle - e.g. lumber, luggage, bicycles... 
 

4 
 

Annotating Specific Areas 

Fast Food 
Drive-Thrus  
Fast  food  drive  thrus  are not 
part  of  the  parking  lot,  and 
need to be annotated.  
 
Even  if  the  restaurant  is  in 
the  corner  of  a  parking  lot, 
all  objects  in  the  drive-thru 
area  (e.g.  cars  and  pedes- 
trians) need to be annotated. 
   

5 
 

When the SDC is in a parking lot 

If  the  SDC  is  driving  in,  exiting,  or  entering  a  parking 
lot,  then  ​all  cars,  pedestrians,  and  other  objects  need 
to  be  annotated​.  If  there  are  any  other  parking  lots  in 
the  scene  that  aren’t  connected  to  the  parking  lot  the 
SDC is in, then annotate it as a no label zone. 

   

6 
 

Annotating Apartment Parking Spaces 

These  parking  spaces  meant  for  the  apartment  buildings  should 
be  considered  a  parking  lot,  and  be  annotated  with  a  ‘​no  label 
zone​’.  Remember  to  annotate  the  driveway  into  this  area  as  a  ‘​no 
label zone​’ 
 
   

7 
 

Annotating Specific Objects 

Semi-Trucks 
Annotate semi-trucks with two separate cuboids: 

 
 
Label  the  first  cuboid  ‘​Vehicle  -  Truck​’  with  the  attribute 
‘​Towing​’.  Label  the  second  cuboid  ‘​Vehicle  -  Trailer​’  with 
the attribute ‘​Being towed​’. 
 
If  the  truck  and  the  trailer  are  currently  ‘​Parked​’  or 
‘Stopped​’,  they  should  still  have  the  same  attribute  ‘​Towed’ 
and ‘​Being towed​’.   

8 
 

Vehicles with Large Objects on the Roof 

Any  and  all  objects  on  top  of  a  vehicles  roof  should  be  included  with 
the  cuboid.  This  includes  trucks  hauling  lumber,  passenger  vehicles 
with  luggage  bins  on  top,  other  self  driving  vehicles  with  LIDAR 
devices, etc.    

9 
 

Forklifts 
Forklifts  should  be  labeled  as  ‘​Vehicle  -  Other’​.  Include  all 
parts  of  the  vehicle into the cuboid when annotating (e.g. the 
forks, or the hydraulics). 

     

10 
 

Mail Truck, Mail Van, or Mail Lorry 

Mail  trucks,  like  the  one  pictured  below,  should  be 
labeled  as  ‘​Vehicle  -  car’​.  If  they  are  larger  trucks  or 
semi-trucks, annotate them that way.   

11 
 

Wood Chippers 
Wood  Chippers  or  mulchers  mounted  on  trailers 
should  be  annotated  as ‘​Vehicle - Trailer​’. If it is being 
towed,  make  sure  to  have  give  the  object  the  attribute 
‘​Being towed​’.  

 
Remember!  If  there  are  any  tree  branches  or  other 
debris,  it  needs  to  be  annotated  with  ‘​Static  Road 
Object - Other​’.    

12 
 

Mobile  Traffic  Control  vs  Construction 

Zone Signs and Sign Boards 
 
If  a  construction  sign  board  is  on  a 
trailer,  it  should  be  annotated 
‘​Construction  Object  -  Construction 
Zone  Signs  and  Construction  Sign 
Boards’​.  ​If  it  is  being  towed,  it  needs 
to have the ‘​Being towed​’ attribute. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If  a  construction  sign  board  is 
mounted  on  a  truck,  the  vehicle 
should  be  annotated  as  ‘​Vehicle  - 
Mobile  Traffic  Control’​.  Be  sure  to 
include  the  sign  board  in  the  cuboid 
with the vehicle.   

13 
 

Common Places to Look For 

Missing Vehicles 
Behind rows of stopped cars at intersections 

 
Look for gaps and spacing between cars stopped at stop lights. These cars are heavily occluded, but 
there may be enough points to annotate these cars. (Source: https://cl.ly/e83479b8de07) 

14 
 

Behind gas station pumps 

 
Watch out for other vehicles that are occluded by gas pumps. Check for the normal areas that cars may 
be pumping gas as well. (Source: https://cl.ly/059d37aeeeb6) 

   

15 
 

Frequent and Common 

Errors 
‘Stopped’ vehicles that are mislabeled as 
‘Braking’ 
The ​‘Braking’ ​attribute should be used for vehicles that are slowing down using 
their brakes. If you see a vehicle that is stopped at a stoplight, and you can see 
the brake lights, the vehicle should have the ‘​Stopped​’ attribute. 
https://cl.ly/af6abddc10a8​ The four vehicles on the right marked with the red 
arrow have their brake-lights on but are stopped. These should have the 
‘​Stopped​’ attribute 
 
The one vehicle in front of the minivan marked with the yellow arrow is 
currently moving, and has its brake-lights on. This vehicle should have the 
‘​Braking​’ attribute. 
 
   

16 
 

Headlights and Turn Signals ARE NOT Active 

Signalling 
Vehicles with their headlights on ​are not​ using 
‘​Active Signalling​’. Active signalling is used for 
Emergency Vehicles or other vehicles with 
dedicated signals. 
   

17 
 

Minivans mislabeled as Vans 

Small passenger vans, that carry <9 people should be annotated as ​Vehicle - 
Car​.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vans that are meant to carry more than 8 people, or delivery vans, news vans 
should be annotated as ​Vehicle - Van 
 
 

18 
 

Forgetting to label parking lot driveways 

 
Remember  to  label  all  driveways  leading 
into  a  ‘​No  Label  Zone’  parking  lot.  Do  not 
cover  the  sidewalk  between  the  road  and 
the driveway.   

19 
 

Incorrect No Label Zones 

Be  careful  when  placing  ‘​No Label Zones​’. Use as few cuboids 
as  possible  to  cover  the  parking  lot.  Try  to  avoid  having 
overlap  between  cuboids  as  much  as  possible. Do not include 
any buildings or sidewalks within the cuboid.   

20 
 

Including Echo with Stationary Objects 

Stationary objects in Bee tasks 
are  prone  to  echoed  data. Flat 
objects,  like  large 
construction signs, will reflect 
lots  of  echo  causing  them  to 
appear  larger  than  they 
actually are: 
​https://cl.ly/19fa93a774be 
 
This  sign  appears  to  be 
much  larger  when  the  SDC  is 
far  away,  but  once  the  SDC 
approaches  the  sign,  the  noise  disappears  revealing  the  true  dimensions  of  the 
object; the cuboid needs to be much smaller. 
 
 
   

21 
 

Over-annotating reflections 
When the SDC is near a building, it will pick up the lidar points reflecting off of 
objects in front of it. Be careful not to over-annotate these false lidar points. 
https://cl.ly/194bdbc55b76​ The pedestrians on the left of the orange line are 
reflections of pedestrians on the right.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
■ https://cl.ly/194bdbc55b76​ The building is causing a reflection, 
picking up additional lidar points of the objects between the 
building and the SDC.  

22