A Review on Map-Merging Methods for Typical Map Types in Multiple-Ground-Robot SLAM Solutions

When multiple robots are involved in the process of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), a global map should be constructed by merging the local maps built by individual robots, so as to provide a better representation of the environment. Hence, the map-merging methods play a crucial rule in multi-robot systems and determine the performance of multi-robot SLAM. This paper looks into the key problem of map merging for multiple-ground-robot SLAM and reviews the typical map-merging methods for several important types of maps in SLAM applications: occupancy grid maps, feature-based maps, and topological maps. These map-merging approaches are classified based on their working mechanism or the type of features they deal with. The concepts and characteristics of these map-merging methods are elaborated in this review. The contents summarized in this paper provide insights and guidance for future multiple-ground-robot SLAM solutions.

[1]  Helder Araújo,et al.  Multi-modal Sensors Path Merging , 2014, IAS.

[2]  Fawzi Nashashibi,et al.  Multi-vehicle cooperative localization using indirect vehicle-to-vehicle relative pose estimation , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety (ICVES 2012).

[3]  Liam Paull,et al.  Map merging for multiple robots using Hough peak matching , 2014, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[4]  Y. Charlie Hu,et al.  Multi-robot SLAM with topological/metric maps , 2007, 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[5]  Zhen Sun,et al.  Sparse Pointcloud Map Fusion of Multi-Robot System , 2018, 2018 International Conference on Control, Automation and Information Sciences (ICCAIS).

[6]  Sven Behnke,et al.  Real-Time Plane Segmentation Using RGB-D Cameras , 2012, RoboCup.

[7]  Tom Drummond,et al.  Machine Learning for High-Speed Corner Detection , 2006, ECCV.

[8]  Gelson da Cruz,et al.  An Occupancy Grid Map Merging Algorithm Invariant to Scale, Rotation and Translation , 2017, 2017 Brazilian Conference on Intelligent Systems (BRACIS).

[9]  D. Viswanathan,et al.  Features from Accelerated Segment Test ( FAST ) , 2011 .

[10]  Ivan Petrovic,et al.  Fast planar surface 3D SLAM using LIDAR , 2017, Robotics Auton. Syst..

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

[12]  M. Locatelli.  Simulated Annealing Algorithms for Continuous Global Optimization , 2002 .

[13]  Michael Trentini,et al.  Multiple‐Robot Simultaneous Localization and Mapping: A Review , 2016, J. Field Robotics.

[14]  Ben J. A. Kröse,et al.  Navigation using an appearance based topological map , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[15]  Yibin Li,et al.  Adaptive genetic algorithm for occupancy grid maps merging , 2008, 2008 7th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation.

[16]  Stefano Carpin,et al.  Fast and accurate map merging for multi-robot systems , 2008, Auton. Robots.

[17]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  A comparison of line extraction algorithms using 2D range data for indoor mobile robotics , 2007, Auton. Robots.

[18]  Steven M. LaValle,et al.  Randomized Kinodynamic Planning , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[19]  Achim J. Lilienthal,et al.  Using sketch-maps for robot navigation: Interpretation and matching , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR).

[20]  Michael Bosse,et al.  Map Matching and Data Association for Large-Scale Two-dimensional Laser Scan-based SLAM , 2008, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[21]  Stergios I. Roumeliotis,et al.  Multi-robot SLAM with Unknown Initial Correspondence: The Robot Rendezvous Case , 2006, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[22]  Li-Chen Fu,et al.  A hybrid approach to RBPF based SLAM with grid mapping enhanced by line matching , 2009, 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[23]  Prabir K. Pal,et al.  Building maps of indoor environments by merging line segments extracted from registered laser range scans , 2014, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[24]  Gary R. Bradski,et al.  ORB: An efficient alternative to SIFT or SURF , 2011, 2011 International Conference on Computer Vision.

[25]  Chunyun Fu,et al.  Advanced Mapping Using Planar Features Segmented from 3D Point Clouds , 2019, 2019 International Conference on Control, Automation and Information Sciences (ICCAIS).

[26]  Huimin Lu,et al.  Simultaneous Merging Multiple Grid Maps Using the Robust Motion Averaging , 2017, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[27]  Lionel Ott,et al.  Continuous Occupancy Map Fusion with Fast Bayesian Hilbert Maps , 2019, 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[28]  Binoy Pinto,et al.  Speeded Up Robust Features , 2011 .

[29]  Ji-Wook Kwon.  Cooperative Environment Scans Based on a Multi-Robot System , 2015, Sensors.

[30]  Huosheng Hu,et al.  3-D-Laser-Based Scene Measurement and Place Recognition for Mobile Robots in Dynamic Indoor Environments , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement.

[31]  B. Faverjon,et al.  Probabilistic Roadmaps for Path Planning in High-Dimensional Con(cid:12)guration Spaces , 1996 .

[32]  Nicola Basilico,et al.  Multirobot Exploration of Communication-Restricted Environments: A Survey , 2017, IEEE Intelligent Systems.

[33]  Andreas Birk,et al.  On map merging , 2005, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[34]  Javier Ruiz-del-Solar,et al.  Topological Semantic Mapping and Localization in Urban Road Scenarios , 2018, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[35]  Liam Paull,et al.  Multiple robot simultaneous localization and mapping , 2011, 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[36]  Francesco Amigoni,et al.  A Method for Building Small-Size Segment-Based Maps , 2006, DARS.

[37]  Ming Hu,et al.  A Novel Controller Design for the Next Generation Space Electrostatic Accelerometer Based on Disturbance Observation and Rejection , 2016, Sensors.

[38]  Francesco Amigoni,et al.  A Method for Reducing Redundant Line Segments in Maps , 2009, ECMR.

[39]  Juan D. Tardós,et al.  ORB-SLAM2: An Open-Source SLAM System for Monocular, Stereo, and RGB-D Cameras , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[40]  Andreas Birk,et al.  Merging Occupancy Grid Maps From Multiple Robots , 2006, Proceedings of the IEEE.

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

[42]  Ruofei Zhong,et al.  Feature-Based Laser Scan Matching and Its Application for Indoor Mapping , 2016, Sensors.

[43]  Aydan M. Erkmen,et al.  A Novel Map Merging Methodology for Multi-Robot Systems , .

[44]  Liam Paull,et al.  Map merging using hough peak matching , 2012, 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[45]  Ilze Andersone,et al.  Heterogeneous Map Merging: State of the Art , 2019, Robotics.

[46]  Jihua Zhu,et al.  Simultaneously merging multi-robot grid maps at different resolutions , 2019, Multimedia Tools and Applications.

[47]  Songmin Jia,et al.  Research on map merging for multi-robotic system based on RTM , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation.

[48]  Tsukasa Ogasawara,et al.  Alignment of Occupancy Grid and Floor Maps Using Graph Matching , 2017, 2017 IEEE 11th International Conference on Semantic Computing (ICSC).

[49]  Edsger W. Dijkstra,et al.  A note on two problems in connexion with graphs , 1959, Numerische Mathematik.

[50]  Rui P. Rocha,et al.  Multi-robot complete exploration using hill climbing and topological recovery , 2008, 2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[51]  Tao Lin,et al.  Route Planning based on Floyd Algorithm for Intelligence Transportation System , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Conference on Integration Technology.

[52]  Luc Van Gool,et al.  Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) , 2008, Comput. Vis. Image Underst..

[53]  Jihua Zhu,et al.  Merging grid maps of different resolutions by scaling registration , 2015, Robotica.

[54]  Jan Oliver Wallgrün,et al.  Voronoi Graph Matching for Robot Localization and Mapping , 2010, Trans. Comput. Sci..

[55]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  A framework for multi-robot pose graph SLAM , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Real-time Computing and Robotics (RCAR).

[56]  Javier González,et al.  A robust, multi-hypothesis approach to matching occupancy grid maps , 2013, Robotica.

[57]  H. Jin Kim,et al.  Linear RGB-D SLAM for Planar Environments , 2018, ECCV.

[58]  Richard O. Duda,et al.  Use of the Hough transformation to detect lines and curves in pictures , 1972, CACM.

[59]  S. Hadian Jazi,et al.  Map-merging in Multi-robot Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Process Using Two Heterogeneous Ground Robots , 2019 .

[60]  Josep Amat,et al.  Map Generation by Cooperative Low-Cost Robots in Structured Unknown Environments , 1998, Auton. Robots.

[61]  Michael Kaess,et al.  Simultaneous localization and mapping with infinite planes , 2015, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[62]  Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte,et al.  Simultaneous Localization and Mapping with Sparse Extended Information Filters , 2004, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[63]  Pavel Krsek,et al.  Robust Euclidean alignment of 3D point sets: the trimmed iterative closest point algorithm , 2005, Image Vis. Comput..

[64]  Henrik I. Christensen,et al.  Planar surface SLAM with 3D and 2D sensors , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[65]  Larry D. Hostetler,et al.  The estimation of the gradient of a density function, with applications in pattern recognition , 1975, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory.

[66]  G LoweDavid,et al.  Distinctive Image Features from Scale-Invariant Keypoints , 2004 .

[67]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  3D SLAM using planar segments , 2006, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[68]  Chunyun Fu,et al.  State Transition for Statistical SLAM Using Planar Features in 3D Point Clouds , 2019, Sensors.

[69]  Maria L. Gini,et al.  Building Segment-Based Maps Without Pose Information , 2006, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[70]  Kurt Konolige,et al.  Map merging for distributed robot navigation , 2003, Proceedings 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2003) (Cat. No.03CH37453).

[71]  Andrew J. Sinclair,et al.  Mapping for Path Planning using Maximal Empty Rectangles , 2013 .

[72]  Peter Wonka,et al.  Curve matching for open 2D curves , 2009, Pattern Recognit. Lett..

[73]  Kiyotsugu Takaba,et al.  Multi-robot SLAM via Information Fusion Extended Kalman Filters , 2016 .

[74]  Wesley H. Huang,et al.  Topological Map Merging , 2005, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[75]  Gonzalo Ferrer,et al.  Eigen-Factors: Plane Estimation for Multi-Frame and Time-Continuous Point Cloud Alignment , 2019, 2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[76]  Seung-Hwan Lee,et al.  Probabilistic map merging for multi-robot RBPF-SLAM with unknown initial poses , 2011, Robotica.

[77]  Jorge Dias,et al.  Merging Topological Maps for Localisation in Large Environments , 2008 .

[78]  Luca Iocchi,et al.  Scan Matching in the Hough Domain , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[79]  Rolf Lakaemper.  Simultaneous multi-line-segment merging for robot mapping using Mean shift clustering , 2009, 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[80]  Mohan Krishnan,et al.  Occupancy Grid Map Merging Using Feature Maps , 2010 .

[81]  Dorian Gálvez-López,et al.  Real-time loop detection with bags of binary words , 2011, 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[82]  Ran Liu,et al.  Outlier Robust ICP for Minimizing Fractional RMSD , 2006, Sixth International Conference on 3-D Digital Imaging and Modeling (3DIM 2007).

[83]  Andrew J. Sinclair,et al.  Map merging of rotated, corrupted, and different scale maps using rectangular features , 2016, 2016 IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS).

[84]  Francesco Amigoni,et al.  Analysis of methods for reducing line segments in maps: Towards a general approach , 2008, 2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[85]  Maria Gini,et al.  Merging partial maps without using odometry , 2005 .

[86]  Michel Devy,et al.  SLAM and data fusion from visual landmarks and 3D planes , 2008 .

[87]  Andrew Howard,et al.  Multi-robot Simultaneous Localization and Mapping using Particle Filters , 2005, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[88]  Akif Durdu,et al.  A novel map-merging technique for occupancy grid-based maps using multiple robots: a semantic approach , 2019, Turkish J. Electr. Eng. Comput. Sci..

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

[90]  Fawzi Nashashibi,et al.  Multivehicle Cooperative Local Mapping: A Methodology Based on Occupancy Grid Map Merging , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

[91]  Pinhas Ben-Tzvi,et al.  Mapping, localization and motion planning in mobile multi-robotic systems , 2012, Robotica.

[92]  Yan Peng,et al.  A Grid Map Fusion Algorithm Based on Maximum Common Subgraph , 2018, 2018 13th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA).

[93]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  Towards Autonomous Topological Place Detection Using the Extended Voronoi Graph , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[94]  Stefan B. Williams,et al.  Towards multi-vehicle simultaneous localisation and mapping , 2002, Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292).

[95]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  EKF-based 3D SLAM for structured environment reconstruction , 2005, 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[96]  Andreas Birk,et al.  Evaluation of map quality by matching and scoring high-level, topological map structures , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[97]  Alberto Quattrini Li,et al.  Comparing methods for merging redundant line segments in maps , 2018, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[98]  Jan Elseberg,et al.  A line segment based system for 2D global mapping , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[99]  Fawzi Nashashibi,et al.  A new method for occupancy grid maps merging: Application to multi-vehicle cooperative local mapping and moving object detection in outdoor environment , 2012, 2012 12th International Conference on Control Automation Robotics & Vision (ICARCV).

[100]  Francesco Amigoni,et al.  Matching line segment scans with mutual compatibility constraints , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[101]  Giulio Fontana,et al.  Rawseeds ground truth collection systems for indoor self-localization and mapping , 2009, Auton. Robots.

[102]  Kurt Konolige,et al.  Distributed Multirobot Exploration and Mapping , 2005, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[103]  Sebastian Thrun,et al.  Multi-robot SLAM with Sparse Extended Information Filers , 2003, ISRR.

[104]  Hailin Huang,et al.  Vision and laser fused SLAM in indoor environments with multi-robot system , 2019, Assembly Automation.

[105]  Basilio Bona,et al.  Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Using Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filters in Multi Robot Systems , 2011, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[106]  Beom-Hee Lee,et al.  A survey of map merging techniques for cooperative-SLAM , 2012, 2012 9th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI).

[107]  Robert C. Bolles,et al.  Random sample consensus: a paradigm for model fitting with applications to image analysis and automated cartography , 1981, CACM.

[108]  Vincent Lepetit,et al.  BRIEF: Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features , 2010, ECCV.

[109]  David Suter,et al.  Robust segmentation of visual data using ranked unbiased scale estimate , 1999, Robotica.

[110]  Youcef Mezouar,et al.  Topological Mapping with Image Sequence Partitioning , 2013, Frontiers of Intelligent Autonomous Systems.

[111]  Wolfram Burgard,et al.  Collaborative multi-robot exploration , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[112]  Jingjing Du,et al.  Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filters multi robot SLAM with unknown initial correspondences and limited communication , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[113]  Wei Wang,et al.  Point-Plane SLAM Using Supposed Planes for Indoor Environments , 2019, Sensors.

[114]  Héctor H. González-Baños,et al.  Navigation Strategies for Exploring Indoor Environments , 2002, Int. J. Robotics Res..