Simultaneous localization and map building for mobile robotnavigation

Inexpensive ultrasonic sensors, incremental encoders, and grid-based probabilistic modeling are used for improved robot navigation in indoor environments. For model-building, range data from ultrasonic sensors are constantly sampled and a map is built and updated immediately while the robot is travelling through the workspace. The local world model is based on the concept of an occupancy grid. The world model extracted from the range data is based on the geometric primitive of line segments. For the extraction of these features, methods such as the Hough transform and clustering are utilized. The perceived local world model along with dead-reckoning and ultrasonic sensor data are combined using an extended Kalman filter in a localization scheme to estimate the current position and orientation of the mobile robot, which is subsequently fed to the map-building algorithm. Implementation issues and experimental results with the Nomad 150 mobile robot in a real-world indoor environment (office space) are presented     

Hazardous area navigation with temporary beacons

A new area expansion algorithm for the localization scheme, using temporary beacons, is proposed in this paper. The effective area of the active beacons is limited by the strength of the ultrasonic signals in a noisy environment. When a mobile robot needs to move into a hazardous area or into an unstructured environment where the beacons with pre-specified position information are not available, the localization may solely rely on dead reckoning sensors such as encoders. To overcome the error accumulation by using dead-reckoning, a new scheme is developed, in this paper, in which the mobile robot carries a few temporary beacons which do not have any pre-stored position information. When the mobile robot encounters a dangerous or unstructured environment, it utilizes the temporary beacons to localize itself. An auto-calibration algorithm has been developed to provide the position information to the temporary beacons before they are used for the localization. With these temporary beacons and the auto-calibration algorithm, mobile robots can safely pass unstructured areas. The effectiveness of the temporary beacons and auto-calibration algorithm is verified through real experiments of mobile robot navigation.     

Tackling the premature convergence problem in Monte-Carlo localization

Monte-Carlo localization uses particle filtering to estimate the position of the robot. The method is known to suffer from the loss of potential positions when there is ambiguity present in the environment. Since many indoor environments are highly symmetric, this problem of premature convergence is problematic for indoor robot navigation. It is, however, rarely studied in particle filters. We introduce a number of so-called niching methods used in genetic algorithms, and implement them on a particle filter for Monte-Carlo localization. The experiments show a significant improvement in the diversity maintaining performance of the particle filter.     

Multisensor 3D Posture Determination of a Mobile Robot Using Inertial and Ultrasonic Sensors

This paper presents methodologies and techniques for fusing inertial and ultrasonic sensors to estimate the current posture of a mobile robot navigating over indoor uneven terrain. This new type of pose tracking system is developed by means of fusing an inertial navigation subsystem (INS) and an ultrasonic localization subsystem. Extended Kalman filtering (EKF)-based algorithm for integrating both the subsystems is proposed to obtain reliable attitude and position estimates of the vehicle and to eliminate the accumulation errors caused by wheel slippage and surface roughness. Experimental results are conducted to illustrate feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system and method.     

低成本激光和视觉相结合的同步定位与建图研究

激光雷达和视觉传感是目前两种主要的服务机器人定位与导航技术,但现有的低成本激光雷 达定位精度较低且无法实现大范围闭环检测,而单独采用视觉手段构建的特征地图又不适用于导航应用。因此,该文以配备低成本激光雷达与视觉传感器的室内机器人为研究对象,提出了一种激光和视觉相结合的定位与导航建图方法：通过融合激光点云数据与图像特征点数据,采用基于稀疏姿态调整的优化方法,对机器人位姿进行优化。同时,采用基于视觉特征的词袋模型进行闭环检测,并进一步优化基于激光点云的栅格地图。真实场景下的实验结果表明,相比于单一的激光或视觉定位建图方 法,基于多传感器数据融合的方法定位精度更高,并有效地解决了闭环检测问题。     

Qualitative Navigation for Autonomous Wheelchair Robots in Indoor Environments

This article describes a novel qualitative navigation method for autonomous wheelchair robots in typical home environments. The method accepts as input a line diagram of the robot environment and converts it into an enhanced grid in which qualitative representations of variations in sensor behavior between adjacent regions in space are stored. An off-line planner uses these representations to store at each grid cell appropriate motion commands that will ideally move the wheelchair in and out of each room in a typical home environment. An online controller accepts as input this enhanced grid along with a starting and goal position for the robot. It then compares the actual behavior of the sensors with the one stored in the grid. The results of this comparison are used to estimate the current position of the robot, to retrieve the planner instructions and to combine these instructrions with appropriate risk avoidance behaviors during navigation. This method has been tested both in simulation and as one of the subsystems on a prototype for an autonomous wheelchair robot. Results from both trials are provided.     

融合语义激光与地标信息的SLAM技术研究

针对移动机器人在SLAM（即时定位与地图构建）过程中出现的定位失真问题,提出一种通过搭建地标数据库和位姿推导模型,修正机器人错误定位的方法。建图过程中,融合视觉信息与激光数据,得到语义激光,赋予地标语义标签并记录其在地图上的位置信息。导航过程中,当产生定位偏差时,结合多种位姿数据和相对位置关系,推算出机器人在地图上的实际位置,完成重定位。通过实验测试可知,该方法克服了现有机器人在实际室内动态环境下,单一地采用激光或视觉进行定位或重定位技术的缺点和不足,能有效解决“机器人位置漂移问题”。将机器人从当前位置劫持到另一位置,也能根据提出的算法迅速重定位,且定位精度高。     

Motion-based identification of multiple mobile robots using trajectory analysis in a well-configured environment with distributed vision sensors

Networked mobile robots are able to determine their poses (i.e., position and orientation) with the help of a well-configured environment with distributed sensors. Before localizing the mobile robots using distributed sensors, the environment has to have information on each of the robots?? prior knowledge. Consequently, if the environment does not have information on the prior knowledge of a certain mobile robot then it will not determine its current pose. To solve this restriction, as a preprocessing step for indoor localization, we propose a motion-based identification of multiple mobile robots using trajectory analysis. The proposed system identifies the robots by establishing the relation between their identities and their positions, which are estimated from their trajectories related to each of the paths generated as designated signs. The primary feature of the proposed system is the fact that networked mobile robots are quickly and simultaneously able to determine their poses in well-configured environments. Experimental results show that our proposed system simultaneously identifies multiple mobile robots, and approximately estimates each of their poses as an initial state for autonomous localization.     

基于光流传感器的移动机器人定位方法

详细介绍了光流传感器移动机器人定位系统的运动学原理,给出了理论模型推导;基于理论模型,搭建了基于光流传感器实验装置,将3只传感器置于移动机器人的固定位置,通过运动学几何关系,解算机器人的位姿;在室内进行了移动机器人的导航实验,推算了机器人的预测轨迹.实验证明了理论的可行性,可以作为短距离定位的一种导航方案.     

Learning sensor-based navigation of a real mobile robot in unknownworlds

In this paper, we address the problem of navigating an autonomous mobile robot in an unknown indoor environment. The parti-game multiresolution learning approach is applied for simultaneous and cooperative construction of a world model, and learning to navigate through an obstacle-free path from a starting position to a known goal region. The paper introduces a new approach, based on the application of the fuzzy ART neural architecture, for on-line map building from actual sensor data. This method is then integrated, as a complement, on the parti-game world model, allowing the system to make a more efficient use of collected sensor information. Then, a predictive on-line trajectory filtering method, is introduced in the learning approach. Instead of having a mechanical device moving to search the world, the idea is to have the system analyzing trajectories in a predictive mode, by taking advantage of the improved world model. The real robot will only move to try trajectories that have been predicted to be successful, allowing lower exploration costs. This results in an overall improved new method for goal-oriented navigation. It is assumed that the robot knows its own current world location-a simple dead-reckoning method is used for localization in our experiments. It is also assumed that the robot is able to perform sensor-based obstacle detection (not avoidance) and straight-line motions. Results of experiments with a real Nomad 200 mobile robot are presented, demonstrating the effectiveness of the discussed methods.     

多传感器信息融合在移动机器人定位中的应用

机器人自定位是实现自主导航的关键问题之一。为了满足机器人在导航时精确定位的要求,提出一种基于多传感器信息融合的自定位算法。根据对机器人运动机构的分析和运动机构间的刚体约束,建立起机器人的运动学模型;由传感器的工作原理建立里程计和超声波传感器的观测模型;利用扩展卡尔曼滤波(EKF)算法将里程计和超声波传感器采集的数据进行融合;最后,由匹配的环境特征对机器人的位置进行修正,得到精确的位置估计。实验结果表明:该算法明显地消除了里程计的累计误差,有效地提高了定位精度。     

4WD-4WS型床椅一体化机器人室内定位与点镇定控制研究

以床椅一体化机器人为研究对象,通过设计相应的运动控制器,并结合所搭建的组合导航定位测控系统,实现了室内环境下的点镇定控制;首先,设计了一种四轮转向-四轮驱动模式的全向床椅机器人样机,并对其运动学进行分析;其次,通过不连续坐标变换,用极坐标形式表示当前位姿与目标位姿间的全局控制误差,并选取合适的位姿误差变量对系统模型进行描述,设计出一种基于位置闭环的全局反馈控制器;继而,根据控制器的需要,设计搭建基于卡尔曼滤波的IMU/UWB组合导航定位系统,实现床椅一体化机器人的全局实时精确定位;最后,采用Lyapunov函数法,对所设计控制器中的控制律进行稳定性分析;MATLAB仿真实验与现场实验均表明所设计的点镇定方法控制效果良好。     

Motion estimation of indoor robot based on image sequences and improved particle filter

Robot motion estimation is fundamental in most robot applications such as robot navigation, which is an indispensable part of future internet of things. Indoor robot motion estimation is difficult to be resolved because GPS (Global Positioning System) is unavailable. Vision sensors can provide larger amount of image sequences information compared with other traditional sensors, but it is subject to the changes of light. In order to improve the robustness of indoor robot motion estimation, an enhanced particle filter framework is constructed: firstly, motion estimation was implemented based on the distinguished indoor feature points; secondly, particle filter method was utilized and the least square curve fitting was inserted into the particle resampling process to solve the problem of particle depletion. The various experiments based on real robots show that the proposed method can reduce the estimation errors greatly and provide an effective resolution for the indoor robot localization and motion estimation.

     

Development of an indoor navigation system for a monocular-vision-based autonomous mobile robot

We have developed a technology for a robot that uses an indoor navigation system based on visual methods to provide the required autonomy. For robots to run autonomously, it is extremely important that they are able to recognize the surrounding environment and their current location. Because it was not necessary to use plural external world sensors, we built a navigation system in our test environment that reduced the burden of information processing mainly by using sight information from a monocular camera. In addition, we used only natural landmarks such as walls, because we assumed that the environment was a human one. In this article we discuss and explain two modules: a self-position recognition system and an obstacle recognition system. In both systems, the recognition is based on image processing of the sight information provided by the robot’s camera. In addition, in order to provide autonomy for the robot, we use an encoder and information from a two-dimensional space map given beforehand. Here, we explain the navigation system that integrates these two modules. We applied this system to a robot in an indoor environment and evaluated its performance, and in a discussion of our experimental results we consider the resulting problems.     

Correlation-Based Scan Matching Using Ultrasonic Sensors for EKF Localization

This paper presents a localization method for a mobile robot equipped with only low-cost ultrasonic sensors. Correlation-based Hough scan matching was used to obtain the robot’s pose without any predefined geometric features. A local grid map and a sound pressure model of ultrasonic sensors were used to acquire reliable scan results from uncertain and noisy ultrasonic sensor data. The robot’s pose was measured using correlation-based Hough scan matching, and the covariance was calculated. Localization was achieved by fusing the measurements from scan matching with the robot’s motion model through the extended Kalman filter. Experimental results verified the performance of the proposed localization method in a real home environment.     

A Neural-based Model for Fast Continuous and Global Robot Location

One of the problems in the field of mobile robotics is the estimation of the robot position in an environment. This paper proposes a model for estimating a confidence interval of the robot position in order to compare it with the estimation made by a dead-reckoning system. Both estimations are fused using heuristic rules. The positioning model is very valuable in estimating the current robot position with or without knowledge about the previous positions. Furthermore, it is possible to define the degree of knowledge of the robot previous position, making it possible to adapt the estimation by varying this knowledge degree. This model is based on a one-pass neural network which adapts itself in real time and learns about the relationship between the measurements from sensors and the robot position.     

一种基于特征地图的移动机器人SLAM方案

设计了一种结构化环境中基于特征地图的地图创建方案;采用激光测距仪进行特征地图创建,利用"聚合-分害虫-聚合"的方法来提取线段表示环境信息实现局部地图创建;为了实现移动机器人的同时定位与地图创建,采用扩展卡尔曼滤波方法对机器人的位姿与地图信息进行预测及更新,结合状态估计和数据关联理论,实验显示x的校正量保持在±0.9cm之内;y的校正量保持在±2.5cm之内;θ的校正量在±1.2之内,实现了基于扩展卡尔曼滤波器的SLAM.