Real Time Mapping and Dynamic Navigation for Mobile Robots

This paper discusses the importance, the complexity and the challenges of mapping mobile robot's unknown and dynamic environment, besides the role of sensors and the problems inherited in map building. These issues remain largely an open research problems in developing dynamic navigation systems for mobile robots. The paper presenst the state of the art in map building and localization for mobile robots navigating within unknown environment, and then introduces a solution for the complex problem of autonomous map building and maintenance method with focus on developing an incremental grid based mapping technique that is suitable for real-time obstacle detection and avoidance. In this case, the navigation of mobile robots can be treated as a problem of tracking geometric features that occur naturally in the environment of the robot. The robot maps its environment incrementally using the concept of occupancy grids and the fusion of multiple ultrasonic sensory information while wandering in it and stay away from all obstacles. To ensure real-time operation with limited resources, as well as to promote extensibility, the mapping and obstacle avoidance modules are deployed in parallel and distributed framework. Simulation based experiments has been conducted and illustrated to show the validity of the developed mapping and obstacle avoidance approach.

[1]  Howie Choset,et al.  Hierarchical simultaneous localization and mapping , 2003, Proceedings 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2003) (Cat. No.03CH37453).

[2]  Dominique Meizel,et al.  Fusion of multi-sensor data: a geometric approach , 1991, Proceedings. 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[3]  Keiji Nagatani,et al.  Topological simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM): toward exact localization without explicit localization , 2001, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[4]  Viii Supervisor.  Sonar-Based Real-World Mapping and Navigation , 2001 .

[5]  Tod S. Levitt,et al.  Qualitative Navigation for Mobile Robots , 1990, Artif. Intell..

[6]  James L. Crowley,et al.  World modeling and position estimation for a mobile robot using ultrasonic ranging , 1989, Proceedings, 1989 International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[7]  Yoram Koren,et al.  The vector field histogram-fast obstacle avoidance for mobile robots , 1991, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[8]  Joachim Hertzberg,et al.  Heuristic-Based Laser Scan Matching for Outdoor 6D SLAM , 2005, KI.

[9]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  Simultaneous localization and mapping with unknown data association using FastSLAM , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[10]  Karan M. Gupta,et al.  DYNAMICALLY EXPANDING OCCUPANCY GRIDS , 2005 .

[11]  Bruce H. Krogh,et al.  Integrated path planning and dynamic steering control for autonomous vehicles , 1986, Proceedings. 1986 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[12]  Drew McDermott,et al.  Error correction in mobile robot map learning , 1992, Proceedings 1992 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[13]  Gamini Dissanayake,et al.  Decoupling localization and mapping in SLAM using compact relative maps , 2005, 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[14]  G. Michael Youngblood.  A Framework for Autonomous Mobile Robot Exploration and Map Learning through the use of Place-Centric Occupancy Grids , 2007 .

[15]  José A. Castellanos,et al.  Mobile Robot Localization and Map Building , 1999 .

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

[17]  Hans P. Moravec.  Robot spatial perception by stereoscopic vision and 3D evidence grids , 1996 .

[18]  S. Yuta,et al.  Map Representation and Path Planning for Mobile Robots in a Building Environment , 1988, IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Robots.

[19]  Alberto Elfes,et al.  Using occupancy grids for mobile robot perception and navigation , 1989, Computer.

[20]  Eduardo Mario Nebot,et al.  Real time data association for FastSLAM , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[21]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  Local metrical and global topological maps in the hybrid spatial semantic hierarchy , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[22]  José A. Castellanos,et al.  Mobile Robot Localization and Map Building: A Multisensor Fusion Approach , 2000 .

[23]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  Learning Maps for Indoor Mobile Robot Navigation. , 1996 .

[24]  Mark Lanthier,et al.  Improving vision-based maps by using sonar and infrared data , 2004 .

[25]  Billur Barshan,et al.  Navigating vehicles through an unstructured environment with sonar , 1989, Proceedings, 1989 International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[26]  Eduardo Mario Nebot,et al.  Consistency of the FastSLAM algorithm , 2006, Proceedings 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006..

[27]  Shin'ichi Yuta,et al.  Map representation of a large in-door environment with path planning and navigation abilities for an autonomous mobile robot with its implementation on a real robot☆ , 1993 .

[28]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  The Spatial Semantic Hierarchy , 2000, Artif. Intell..

[29]  Pat Langley,et al.  Place recognition in dynamic environments , 1997, J. Field Robotics.

[30]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  FastSLAM: A Scalable Method for the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Problem in Robotics , 2007 .

[31]  G. Borghi,et al.  AUTONOMOUS MAP LEARNING FOR A MULTI- SENSOR MOBILE ROBOT USING DIKTIOMETRIC REPRESENTATION AND NEGOTIATION MECHANISM , 1995 .

[32]  Jean-Paul Laumond,et al.  Position referencing and consistent world modeling for mobile robots , 1985, Proceedings. 1985 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[33]  Amit Singhal,et al.  Issues in Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation , 1997 .

[34]  Les Kitchen,et al.  Sonar Mapping for Mobile Robots , 1996 .

[35]  Hans P. Moravec,et al.  High resolution maps from wide angle sonar , 1985, Proceedings. 1985 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[36]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  A hybrid approach for robust and precise mobile robot navigation with compact environment modeling , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).

[37]  Yoram Koren,et al.  Potential field methods and their inherent limitations for mobile robot navigation , 1991, Proceedings. 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[38]  Wolfram Burgard,et al.  Map building with mobile robots in dynamic environments , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[39]  Hugh Durrant-Whyte,et al.  Integration, coordination, and control of multi-sensor robot systems , 1987 .

[40]  Maja J. Matarić,et al.  A Distributed Model for Mobile Robot Environment-Learning and Navigation , 1990 .

[41]  Richard Szabo.  Topological Navigation of Simulated Robots using Occupancy Grid , 2004, ArXiv.

[42]  Shin'ichi Yuta,et al.  Efficient on-line path planning algorithm and navigation for a mobile robot , 1990 .

[43]  Alessandro Saffiotti,et al.  Extracting topology-based maps from gridmaps , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[44]  Iwan Ulrich,et al.  VFH+: reliable obstacle avoidance for fast mobile robots , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[45]  James J. Little,et al.  Mobile Robot Localization and Mapping with Uncertainty using Scale-Invariant Visual Landmarks , 2002, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[46]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  Open challenges in SLAM: an optimal solution based on shift and rotation invariants , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[47]  Axel Pinz,et al.  A comparison of three uncertainty calculi for building sonar-based occupancy grids , 2001, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[48]  Oussama Khatib,et al.  Real-Time Obstacle Avoidance for Manipulators and Mobile Robots , 1985, Autonomous Robot Vehicles.

[49]  Wolfram Burgard,et al.  Map building with mobile robots in populated environments , 2002, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[50]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  Learning Metric-Topological Maps for Indoor Mobile Robot Navigation , 1998, Artif. Intell..

[51]  Hans P. Moravec,et al.  Robot Evidence Grids. , 1996 .

[52]  Charles E. Thorpe,et al.  Simultaneous localization and mapping with detection and tracking of moving objects , 2002, Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292).

[53]  Alberto Elfes,et al.  Occupancy grids: a probabilistic framework for robot perception and navigation , 1989 .

[54]  Hans P. Moravec.  Sensor Fusion in Certainty Grids for Mobile Robots , 1988, AI Mag..

[55]  Howie Choset,et al.  Sensor based motion planning: the hierarchical generalized Voronoi graph , 1996 .

[56]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  Solving the find-path problem by good representation of free space , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[57]  Wolfram Burgard,et al.  Experiences with an Interactive Museum Tour-Guide Robot , 1999, Artif. Intell..

[58]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  A Probabilistic On-Line Mapping Algorithm for Teams of Mobile Robots , 2001, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[59]  Wolfram Burgard,et al.  Mobile Robot Mapping and Localization in Non-Static Environments , 2005, AAAI.

[60]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  A robot exploration and mapping strategy based on a semantic hierarchy of spatial representations , 1991, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[61]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Introduction to AI Robotics , 2000 .

[62]  Yoram Koren,et al.  Histogramic in-motion mapping for mobile robot obstacle avoidance , 1991, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[63]  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.