Simultaneous localisation and mapping on a multi-degree of freedom biomimetic whiskered robot

A biomimetic mobile robot called “Shrewbot” has been built as part of a neuroethological study of the mammalian facial whisker sensory system. This platform has been used to further evaluate the problem space of whisker based tactile Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (tSLAM). Shrewbot uses a biomorphic 3-dimensional array of active whiskers and a model of action selection based on tactile sensory attention to explore a circular walled arena sparsely populated with simple geometric shapes. Datasets taken during this exploration have been used to parameterise an approach to localisation and mapping based on probabilistic occupancy grids. We present the results of this work and conclude that simultaneous localisation and mapping is possible given only noisy odometry and tactile information from a 3-dimensional array of active biomimetic whiskers and no prior information of features in the environment.

[1]  Maja J. Matarić,et al.  Navigating with a rat brain: a neurobiologically-inspired model for robot spatial representation , 1991 .

[2]  S. A. Barnett,et al.  The Rat: A Study in Behavior. , 1977 .

[3]  Ofer Tchernichovski,et al.  The dynamics of long term exploration in the rat , 1998, Biological Cybernetics.

[4]  Juval Portugali,et al.  The dynamic process of cognitive mapping in the absence of visual cues: human data compared with animal studies , 2009, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[5]  Verena V. Hafner,et al.  Cognitive Maps in Rats and Robots , 2005, Adapt. Behav..

[6]  Gordon Wyeth,et al.  RatSLAM: a hippocampal model for simultaneous localization and mapping , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[7]  B. McNaughton,et al.  Place cells, head direction cells, and the learning of landmark stability , 1995, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[8]  Ricardo Chavarriaga,et al.  Robust self-localisation and navigation based on hippocampal place cells , 2005, Neural Networks.

[9]  Cyrill Stachniss,et al.  On measuring the accuracy of SLAM algorithms , 2009, Auton. Robots.

[10]  D S Touretzky,et al.  Theory of rodent navigation based on interacting representations of space , 1996, Hippocampus.

[11]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  Probabilistic robotics , 2002, CACM.

[12]  R. Morris.  Spatial Localization Does Not Require the Presence of Local Cues , 1981 .

[13]  Tony J. Prescott,et al.  Learning in a Unitary Coherent Hippocampus , 2010, ICANN.

[14]  T. Hafting,et al.  Microstructure of a spatial map in the entorhinal cortex , 2005, Nature.

[15]  Evangelos E. Milios,et al.  Globally Consistent Range Scan Alignment for Environment Mapping , 1997, Auton. Robots.

[16]  H. Philip Zeigler,et al.  Whisker Deafferentation and Rodent Whisking Patterns: Behavioral Evidence for a Central Pattern Generator , 2001, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[17]  Anthony G. Pipe,et al.  The Emergence of Action Sequences from Spatial Attention: Insight from Rodent-Like Robots , 2012, Living Machines.

[18]  Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte,et al.  Simultaneous map building and localization for an autonomous mobile robot , 1991, Proceedings IROS '91:IEEE/RSJ International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems '91.

[19]  Mathew H. Evans,et al.  Tactile SLAM with a biomimetic whiskered robot , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[20]  T. Prescott,et al.  Biomimetic vibrissal sensing for robots , 2011, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[21]  Mathew E. Diamond,et al.  Hippocampal Representation of Touch-Guided Behavior in Rats: Persistent and Independent Traces of Stimulus and Reward Location , 2011, PloS one.

[22]  T. Prescott,et al.  Active vibrissal sensing in rodents and marsupials , 2011, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[23]  Mathew H. Evans,et al.  Tactile Discrimination Using Active Whisker Sensors , 2012, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[24]  Mathew H. Evans,et al.  Towards hierarchical blackboard mapping on a whiskered robot , 2012, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[25]  Jean-Arcady Meyer,et al.  Navigating With a Rat Brain: A Neurobiologically-Inspired Model for Robot Spatial Representation , 1991 .

[26]  J. O’Keefe.  Place units in the hippocampus of the freely moving rat , 1976, Experimental Neurology.