Event based distributed kalman filter for limited resource multirobot cooperative localization

This paper presents a multirobot cooperative event based localization scheme with improved bandwidth usage in a heterogeneous group of mobile robots. The proposed method relies on an agent based framework that defines the communications between robots and on an event based Extended Kalman Filter that performs the cooperative sensor fusion from local, global and relative sources. The event is generated when the pose error covariance exceeds a predefined limit. By this, the robots update the pose using the relative information available only when necessary, using less bandwidth and computational resources when compared to the time based methods, allowing bandwidth allocation for other tasks while extending battery life. The method is tested using a simulation platform developed in the programming language JAVA with a group of differential mobile robots represented by an agent in a JADE framework. The pose estimation performance, error covariance and number of messages exchanged in the communication are measured and used to compare the traditional time based approach with the proposed event based algorithm. Also, the compromise between the accuracy of the localization method and the bandwidth usage is analyzed for different event limits. A final experimental test with two SUMMIT XL robots is shown to validate the simulation results.     

Multi-sensor fusion approach with fault detection and exclusion based on the Kullback–Leibler Divergence: Application on collaborative multi-robot system

This paper presents a multi-sensor fusion strategy able to detect the spurious sensors data that must be eliminated from the fusion procedure. The used estimator is the informational form of the Kalman Filter (KF) namely Information Filter (IF). In order to detect the erroneous sensors measurements, the Kullback–Leibler Divergence (KLD) between the a priori and a posteriori distributions of the IF is computed. It is generated from two tests: One acts on the means and the other deals with the covariance matrices. Optimal thresholding method based on a Kullback–Leibler Criterion (KLC) is developed and discussed in order to replace classical approaches that fix heuristically the false alarm probability.Multi-robot systems became one of the major fields of study in the indoor environment where the environmental monitoring and the response to crisis must be ensured. Consequently, the robots required to know precisely their positions and orientations in order to successfully perform their mission. Fault detection and exclusion (FDE) play a crucial role in enhancing the integrity of localization of the multi-robot team. The main contributions of this paper are: - developing a new method of sensors data fusion that tackle the erroneous data issues, - developing a Kullback–Leibler based criterion for the threshold optimization, - Validation with real experimental data from a group of robots.     

On a bio-inspired hybrid pheromone signalling for efficient map exploration of multiple mobile service robots

This paper presents a novel bio-inspired hybrid communication framework that incorporates the repelling behaviour of anti-aphrodisiac pheromones and attractive behaviour of pheromones for efficient map exploration of multiple mobile service robots. The proposed communication framework presents a scheme for robots to efficiently serve large areas of map, while cooperating with each other through proper pheromone deposition. This eliminates the need of explicitly programming each service robot to serve particular areas of the map. The paths taken by robots are represented as nodes across which pheromones are deposited. This reduces the search space for tracking pheromones and reduces data size to be communicated between robots. A novel pheromone deposition model is presented which takes into account the uncertainty in the robot’s position. This eliminates robots to deposit pheromones at wrong places when localization fails. The framework also integrates the pheromone signalling mechanism in landmark-based Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) localization and allows the robots to capture areas or sub-areas of the map, to improve the localization. A scheme to resolve conflicts through local communication is presented. We discuss, through experimental and simulation results, two cases of floor cleaning task, and surveillance task, performed by multiple robots. Results show that the proposed scheme enables multiple service robots to perform cooperative tasks intelligently without any explicit programming.     

Planning under uncertainty using model predictive control for information gathering

This paper considers trajectory planning problems for autonomous robots in information gathering tasks. The objective of the planning is to maximize the information gathered within a finite time horizon. It is assumed that either the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) or the Extended Information Filter (EIF) is applied to estimate the features of interest and the information gathered is expressed by the covariance matrix or information matrix. It is shown that the planning process can be formulated as an optimal control problem for a nonlinear control system with a gradually identified model. This naturally leads to the Model Predictive Control (MPC) planning strategy, which uses the updated knowledge about the model to solve a finite horizon optimal control problem at each time step and only executes the first control action. The proposed MPC framework is demonstrated through solutions to two challenging information gathering tasks: (1) Simultaneous planning, localization, and map building (SPLAM) and (2) Multi-robot Geolocation. It is shown that MPC can effectively deal with dynamic constraints, multiple robots/features and a range of objective functions.     

WSNs环境下基于高斯混合容积卡尔曼滤波的移动机器人定位算法

针对移动机器人的定位问题,提出一种面向无线传感器网络WSNs( Wireless Sensor Networks)环境下,结合高斯混合容积卡尔曼滤波( GM￣CKF)优化的定位算法。将WSNs对移动机器人的观测、机器人自身对环境特征的观测以及机器人自身运动控制量进行数据融合,并利用带有门限判别和选择性高斯分割的GM￣CKF算法,对机器人的预估位置实施预测修正,降低计算求解的空间维数,提高定位精度。仿真实验结果表明,所提出的方法比传统机器人自定位法定位精度有所提高,算法精度较标准的CKF算法提高了39.11％,比EKF算法提高了65.81％。     

A Localization Method Based on Map-Matching and Particle Swarm Optimization

This paper presents a novel localization method for small mobile robots. The proposed technique is especially designed for the Robot@Factory, a new robotic competition which is started in Lisbon in 2011. The real-time localization technique resorts to low-cost infra-red sensors, a map-matching method and an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to create a pose tracking system that performs well. The sensor information is continuously updated in time and space according to the expected motion of the robot. Then, the information is incorporated into the map-matching optimization in order to increase the amount of sensor information that is available at each moment. In addition, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) relocates the robot when the map-matching error is high, meaning that the map-matching is unreliable and the robot gets lost. The experiments presented in this paper prove the ability and accuracy of the presented technique to locate small mobile robots for this competition. Extensive results show that the proposed method presents an interesting localization capability for robots equipped with a limited amount of sensors, but also less reliable sensors.     

Ultrasonic navigation for a wheeled nonholonomic vehicle

In this paper, we demonstrate a reliable and robust system for localization of mobile robots in indoors environments which are relatively consistent to a priori known maps. Through the use of an Extended Kalman Filter combining dead-reckoning, ultrasonic, and infrared sensor data, estimation of the position and orientation of the robot is achieved. Based on a thresholding approach, unexpected obstacles can be detected and their motion predicted. Experimental results from implementation on our mobile robot, Nomad-200, are also presented.     

A team of mobile robots and monitoring sensors—from concept to experiment

This paper describes the underlying concepts, architecture and implementation of a robotic system consisting of heterogenous mobile robots and stationary sensors, cooperating in a task of collective perception and world modeling. The navigation capability of a group of robots can be improved by sharing available information about the state of the environment (the environment model) and information about the relative position estimates. The information sharing can be especially beneficial to the robots when there are also some stationary monitoring sensors (e.g. cameras) available in the environment, which can serve as external navigation aids. In the article, information processing performed by individual members of the team—robots and sensors—is analyzed and a unifying multi-agent blackboard architecture is described. For information sharing between robots and monitoring sensors, a framework based on the idea of the Contract Net Protocol is proposed. The communication backbone provides agents with unified communication interfaces. The experimental set-up is described. The results of tests validating the correctness of the design on the tasks of cooperative localization and world-model building are reported. A discussion and comparison to other multi-robot systems closes the article.     

A spatially structured genetic algorithm for multi-robot localization

In this paper the multi-robot localization problem is addressed. A new framework based on a spatially structured genetic algorithm is proposed. Collaboration among robots is considered and is limited to the exchange of sensor data. Additionally, the relative distance and orientation among robots are assumed to be available. The proposed framework (MR-SSGA) takes advantage of the cooperation so that the perceptual capability of each robot is extended. Cooperation can be set-up at any time when robots meet, it is fully decoupled and does not require robots to stop. Several simulations have been performed, either considering cooperation activated or not, in order to emphasize the effectiveness of the collaboration strategy.     

Extended Kalman and Particle Filtering for sensor fusion in motion control of mobile robots

Motion control of mobile robots and efficient trajectory tracking is usually based on prior estimation of the robots’ state vector. To this end Gaussian and nonparametric filters (state estimators from position measurements) have been developed. In this paper the Extended Kalman Filter which assumes Gaussian measurement noise is compared to the Particle Filter which does not make any assumption on the measurement noise distribution. As a case study the estimation of the state vector of a mobile robot is used, when measurements are available from both odometric and sonar sensors. It is shown that in this kind of sensor fusion problem the Particle Filter has better performance than the Extended Kalman Filter, at the cost of more demanding computations.     

基于无极卡尔曼滤波算法的雅可比矩阵估计

在基于图像的机器人视觉伺服中,采用在线估计图像雅可比的方法,不需事先知道系统的精确模型,可以避免复杂的系统标定过程。为了有效改善图像雅可比矩阵的在线估计精度,进而提高机器人的跟踪精度,针对机器人跟踪运动目标的应用背景,提出了利用无极卡尔曼滤波算法在线估计总雅可比矩阵。在二自由度的机器人视觉伺服仿真平台上,分别用卡尔曼滤波器（KF）、粒子滤波器（PF）和无极卡尔曼滤波器（UKF）三种算法进行总雅可比矩阵的在线估计。实验结果证明,使用UKF算法的跟踪精度优于其他两种算法,时间耗费仅次于KF算法。     

Consistent triangulation for mobile robot localization using discontinuous angular measurements

Localization is a fundamental operation for the navigation of mobile robots. The standard localization algorithms fuse external measurements of the environment with the odometric evolution of the robot pose to obtain its optimal estimation. In this work, we present a different approach to determine the pose using angular measurements discontinuously obtained in time. The presented method is based on an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) with a state-vector composed of the external angular measurements. This algorithm keeps track of the angles between actual measurements from robot odometric information. This continuous angular estimation allows the consistent use of the triangulation methods to determine the robot pose at any time during its motion. The article reports experimental results that show the localization accuracy obtained by means of the presented approach. These results are compared to the ones obtained applying the EKF algorithm with the standard pose state-vector. For the experiments, an omnidirectional robotic platform with omnidirectional wheels is used.     

Identification and tracking of robots in an intelligent space using static cameras and an XPFCP

This paper tackles the problem of identification and tracking of multiple robots in an intelligent space using an array of cameras placed in fixed positions within the environment. Several types of agent can be found in an intelligent space: controlled agents (mobile robots) and uncontrolled ones (users and obstacles). The information transferred between the controlled agents and the intelligent space is limited to the control commands sent to the robots and the measurements of the odometers received from the robots. The proposed solution allows the localization of mobile agents, even if they are not robots; however, we have focused on the controlled agents. The proposal does not require prior knowledge or invasive landmarks on board the robots. It starts from the segmentation of different agents in motion that allows obtaining the boundaries of all robots and an estimation of all 3D points that define those boundaries. Then, the identification of the robots is obtained by comparing the components of the linear velocity estimated by the motion segmentation algorithm and received from the odometers. In order to track the robots, an eXtended Particle Filter with Classification Process (XPFCP) is employed. Several experimental tests have been carried out, and the results obtained validate the proposal.     

面向地下空间探测的移动机器人定位与感知方法

提出了一种面向地下空间探测的移动机器人定位与感知方法。首先,针对地下空间的结构退化问题,构建了基于因子图的激光雷达／里程计／惯性测量单元紧耦合融合框架;推导了高精度惯性测量单元／里程计的预积分模型,利用因子图算法实现对移动机器人运动状态及传感器参数的同步估计。同时,提出了基于激光雷达／红外相机融合的目标识别方法,能够对弱光照环境下的多种目标进行识别与相对定位。试验结果表明,在结构退化环境中,本文方法能够将移动机器人的定位精度提升50%以上,并对弱光照环境中的目标实现厘米级的相对定位精度。     

Gradual spatial pattern formation of homogeneous robot group

This paper proposes a gradual formation of a spatial pattern for a homogeneous robot group. The autonomous formation of spatial pattern is one of key technologies for the advancement of cooperative robotic systems because a pattern formation can be regarded as function differentiation of a multi-agent system. When multiple autonomous robots without a given local task cooperatively work for a global objective, the function differentiation is the first and indispensable step. For example, each member of cooperative insects or animals can autonomously recognize own local tasks through mutual communication with local members. There were a lot of papers that reported a spatial pattern formation of multiple robots, but the global information was supposed to be available in their approaches. It is however almost impractical assumption for a small robot to be equipped with an advanced sensing system for global localization due to robot’s scale and sensor size. The local information-based algorithm for the pattern formation is desired even if each robot is not equipped with a global localization sensor.We therefore propose a gradual pattern formation algorithm, i.e., a group of robots improves complexity of their pattern from to a simple pattern to a goal pattern like a polygon. In the algorithm, the Turing diffusion-driven instability theory is used so that it could differentiate roles of each robot in a group based only on local information. In experiment, we demonstrate that robots can make a few polygon patterns from a circle pattern by periodically differentiating robot’s roles into a vertex or a side. We show utilities of the proposed gradual pattern formation algorithm for multiple autonomous robots based on local information through some experiments.     

A framework for the collective movement of mobile robots based on distributed decisions

A novel framework for the control of the collective movement of mobile robots is presented and analyzed in this article. It allows a group of robots to move as a unique entity performing the following functions: obstacle avoidance at group level, speed control and modification of the inter-robot distance. Its flocking controller is distributed among the robots, allowing them to move in the desired common direction and maintain a desired inter-robot distance. The framework is made up of different modules that modify the behavior of the group thus allowing different functions. They are based on consensus algorithms that allow the robots to agree on different parameters, taking into account which robot has more relevant information. New modules can be easily designed and incorporated into the framework in order to augment its capabilities. It can be easily implemented on any mobile robot capable of measuring the relative positions of neighboring robots and communicating with them. It has been successfully tested using 8 real robots and in simulation with up to 40 robots, demonstrating experimentally its scalability with an increasing number of robots.     

A global localization approach based on Line-segment Relation Matching technique

This paper presents a novel global localization approach for mobile robots by exploring line-segment features in any structured environment. The main contribution of this paper is an effective data association approach, the Line-segment Relation Matching (LRM) technique, which is based on a generation and exploration of an Interpretation Tree (IT). A new representation of geometric patterns of line-segments is proposed for the first time, which is called as Relation Table. It contains relative geometric positions of every line-segment respect to the others (or itself) in a coordinate-frame independent sense. Based on that, a Relation-Table-constraint is applied to minimize the searching space of IT therefore greatly reducing the processing time of LRM. The Least Square algorithm is further applied to estimate the robot pose using matched line-segment pairs. Then a global localization system can be realized based on our LRM technique integrated with a hypothesis tracking framework which is able to handle pose ambiguity. Sufficient simulations were specially designed and carried out indicating both pluses and minuses of our system compared with former methods. We also presented the practical experiments illustrating that our approach has a high robustness against uncertainties from sensor occlusions and extraneous observation in a highly dynamic environment. Additionally our system was demonstrated to easily deal with initialization and have the ability of quick recovery from a localization failure.     

基于声音的分布式多机器人相对定位

提出了一种基于声音的分布式多机器人相对定位方法.首先,每个机器人通过声源定位算法估计发声机器人在其局部坐标系下的坐标;然后,每个机器人（不含发声机器人）通过无线通信方式将发声机器人在其坐标系下的坐标广播给所有其他机器人,通过坐标变换每个机器人可计算出所有其他机器人在其坐标系下的坐标,从而实现分布式相对定位.理论推导及实验证明只要两个机器人先后发声,通过本文所提方法即可实现多机器人相对定位.室内外环境中采用6个自制小型移动机器人实验表明,所提方法在3米的范围内可实现16厘米的相对定位精度.     

Computationally efficient solutions for tracking people with a mobile robot: an experimental evaluation of Bayesian filters

Modern service robots will soon become an essential part of modern society. As they have to move and act in human environments, it is essential for them to be provided with a fast and reliable tracking system that localizes people in the neighborhood. It is therefore important to select the most appropriate filter to estimate the position of these persons. This paper presents three efficient implementations of multisensor-human tracking based on different Bayesian estimators: Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and Sampling Importance Resampling (SIR) particle filter. The system implemented on a mobile robot is explained, introducing the methods used to detect and estimate the position of multiple people. Then, the solutions based on the three filters are discussed in detail. Several real experiments are conducted to evaluate their performance, which is compared in terms of accuracy, robustness and execution time of the estimation. The results show that a solution based on the UKF can perform as good as particle filters and can be often a better choice when computational efficiency is a key issue.     

Fault-Tolerant Formation Driving Mechanism Designed for Heterogeneous MAVs-UGVs Groups

A fault-tolerant method for stabilization and navigation of 3D heterogeneous formations is proposed in this paper. The presented Model Predictive Control (MPC) based approach enables to deploy compact formations of closely cooperating autonomous aerial and ground robots in surveillance scenarios without the necessity of a precise external localization. Instead, the proposed method relies on a top-view visual relative localization provided by the micro aerial vehicles flying above the ground robots and on a simple yet stable visual based navigation using images from an onboard monocular camera. The MPC based schema together with a fault detection and recovery mechanism provide a robust solution applicable in complex environments with static and dynamic obstacles. The core of the proposed leader-follower based formation driving method consists in a representation of the entire 3D formation as a convex hull projected along a desired path that has to be followed by the group. Such an approach provides non-collision solution and respects requirements of the direct visibility between the team members. The uninterrupted visibility is crucial for the employed top-view localization and therefore for the stabilization of the group. The proposed formation driving method and the fault recovery mechanisms are verified by simulations and hardware experiments presented in the paper.