移动机器人基于激光测距和单目视觉的室内同时定位和地图构建

该文研究了部分结构化室内环境中自主移动机器人同时定位和地图构建问题.基于激光和视觉传感器模型的不同,加权最小二乘拟合方法和非局部最大抑制算法被分别用于提取二维水平环境特征和垂直物体边缘.为完成移动机器人在缺少先验地图支持的室内环境中的自主导航任务,该文提出了同时进行扩展卡尔曼滤波定位和构建具有不确定性描述的二维几何地图的具体方法.通过对于SmartROB-2移动机器人平台所获得的实验结果和数据的分析讨论,论证了所提出方法的有效性和实用性.     

基于ROS与Kinect的移动机器人同时定位与地图构建

同时定位与地图构建(SLAM)技术一直以来都是移动机器人实现自主导航和避障的核心问题,移动机器人需要借助传感器来探测周围的物体同时构建出相应区域的地图。由于传统的1D和2D传感器,如超声波传感器、声呐和激光测距仪等在建图过程中无法检测出Z轴(垂直方向)上的信息,易增加机器人发生碰撞的概率,同时影响建图结果的精确度。本文利用Kinect作为机器人SLAM的传感器,将其采集到的三维信息转化成二维的激光数据进行地图构建,同时借助机器人操作系统(robot operating system,ROS)进行仿真分析和实际测试。结果表明Kinect可以弥补1D和2D传感器采集信息的不足,同时能够较好的保持建图的完整性和可靠性,适用于室内的移动机器人SLAM实现。     

ROS系统的激光SLAM视觉智能勘察小车

对于目前常用的定位系统(例如GPS),在存在遮挡条件或者在室内执行任务时,往往会出现定位不准,无法识别区域位置等问题,这使得机器人在移动过程中无法正确地进行判断,很可能无法移动至目的地。针对移动机器人在未知环境下的定位不准,无法识别区域位置等问题,设计了一个ROS系统的激光SLAM视觉智能勘察小车,通过结合激光SLAM与深度摄像头,提升小车的数据采集能力,并结合ROS系统的图形化模拟环境,对智能小车的位置进行估计并构建地图,实现了小车的自主定位和导航。经测试,在室内或遮蔽环境下相比采用传统雷达SLAM或视觉SLAM具有更高的定位精度,并且反应快,可以进行实时地图构建,解决了在遮挡条件或者在室内执行任务时出现的问题,使得机器人在地图构建之后能够准确进行判断前往目的地。     

Cross-spectral visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) with sensor handover

In this work, we examine the classic problem of robot navigation via visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), but introducing the concept of dual optical and thermal (cross-spectral) sensing with the addition of sensor handover from one to the other. In our approach we use a novel combination of two primary sensors: co-registered optical and thermal cameras. Mobile robot navigation is driven by two simultaneous camera images from the environment over which feature points are extracted and matched between successive frames. A bearing-only visual SLAM approach is then implemented using successive feature point observations to identify and track environment landmarks using an extended Kalman filter (EKF). Six-degree-of-freedom mobile robot and environment landmark positions are managed by the EKF approach illustrated using optical, thermal and combined optical/thermal features in addition to handover from one sensor to another. Sensor handover is primarily targeted at a continuous SLAM operation during varying illumination conditions (e.g., changing from night to day). The final methodology is tested in outdoor environments with variation in the light conditions and robot trajectories producing results that illustrate that the additional use of a thermal sensor improves the accuracy of landmark detection and that the sensor handover is viable for solving the SLAM problem using this sensor combination.     

基于视觉的移动机器人同时定位与建图研究进展

同时定位与建图(SLAM)是实现移动机器人真正自治的必要前提, 视觉传感器由于能够提供丰富的环境信息而在SLAM研究中受到重视, 本文从视觉传感器配置方式、视觉特征提取方法、视觉SLAM实现机制、地图表示类型以及环境对视觉SLAM的影响五个方面综述基于视觉传感器的同时定位与建图研究的发展现状, 对已有的典型视觉SLAM方法进行分析和比较, 并展望了未来的发展趋势.     

基于VSLAM的自主移动机器人三维同时定位与地图构建

移动机器人在探索未知环境且没有外部参考系统的情况下,面临着同时定位和地图构建（SLAM）问题。针对基于特征的视觉SLAM（VSLAM）算法构建的稀疏地图不利于机器人应用的问题,提出一种基于八叉树结构的高效、紧凑的地图构建算法。首先,根据关键帧的位姿和深度数据,构建图像对应场景的点云地图;然后利用八叉树地图技术进行处理,构建出了适合于机器人应用的地图。将所提算法同RGB-D SLAM（RGB-Depth SLAM）算法、ElasticFusion算法和ORB-SLAM（Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF SLAM）算法通过权威数据集进行了对比实验,实验结果表明,所提算法具有较高的有效性、精度和鲁棒性。最后,搭建了自主移动机器人,将改进的VSLAM系统应用到移动机器人中,能够实时地完成自主避障和三维地图构建,解决稀疏地图无法用于避障和导航的问题。     

C2TAM: A Cloud framework for cooperative tracking and mapping

The Simultaneous Localization And Mapping by an autonomous mobile robot–known by its acronym SLAM–is a computationally demanding process for medium and large-scale scenarios, in spite of the progress both in the algorithmic and hardware sides. As a consequence, a robot with SLAM capabilities has to be equipped with the latest computers whose weight and power consumption might limit its autonomy.This paper describes a visual SLAM system based on a distributed framework where the expensive map optimization and storage is allocated as a service in the Cloud, while a light camera tracking client runs on a local computer. The robot onboard computers are freed from most of the computation, the only extra requirement being an internet connection. The data flow from and to the Cloud is low enough to be supported by a standard wireless connection.The experimental section is focused on showing real-time performance for single-robot and cooperative SLAM using an RGBD camera. The system provides the interface to a map database where: (1) a map can be built and stored, (2) stored maps can be reused by other robots, (3) a robot can fuse its map online with a map already in the database, and (4) several robots can estimate individual maps and fuse them together if an overlap is detected.     

Probabilistic structure matching for visual SLAM with a multi-camera rig

We propose to use a multi-camera rig for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), providing flexibility in sensor placement on mobile robot platforms while exploiting the stronger localization constraints provided by omni-directional sensors. In this context, we present a novel probabilistic approach to data association, that takes into account that features can also move between cameras under robot motion. Our approach circumvents the combinatorial data association problem by using an incremental expectation maximization algorithm. In the expectation step we determine a distribution over correspondences by sampling. In the maximization step, we find optimal parameters of a density over the robot motion and environment structure. By summarizing the sampling results in so-called virtual measurements, the resulting optimization simplifies to the equivalent optimization problem for known correspondences. We present results for simulated data, as well as for data obtained by a mobile robot equipped with a multi-camera rig.     

激光即时定位与建图算法综述

激光即时定位与建图(SLAM)算法是一种在机器人导航和自主驾驶领域被广泛应用的技术;该技术可以利用激光雷达扫描环境并提取特征点,实现机器人的自主定位和地图构建;针对机器人激光SLAM技术进行研究,分析了各个激光SLAM算法的基本原理,并且对主流SLAM算法进行了现状总结;根据激光SLAM算法的特点以及原理不同,将激光SLAM算法分为：基于滤波器的算法、基于图优化的算法、基于配准的算法、基于学习的算法等;基于上述分类,详细介绍了每个算法的优缺点,并且分述了近两年的主要研究成果;针对移动机器人激光SLAM算法研究现状,对激光SLAM算法的未来发展进行了展望。     

A vertical and floor line-based monocular SLAM system for corridor environments

In this paper, we propose a vertical and floor line-based monocular simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system which utilizes vertical lines, floor lines, and vanishing points as sensory input to perform robust SLAM in corridor environments. By combining three map feature types, our design can help a robot to perform accurate pose estimation, repeatable loop closure, and to construct a more expressive environmental map. As a primitive element of a geometric structure, a line segment has one additional dimension compared to a point feature, thereby allowing the use of line segments to easily represent a geometric structure using a smaller number of features. This system presents map features on a 2D ground space: the vertical line as a projection point, the floor line as the original line, and the vanishing point as a directional vector. Although the vertical line, floor line, and vanishing point use different parameterization and initialization methods, their measurement models are integrated into a unified extended Kalman filter (EKF) framework. Experimental results show that our system can be deployed in a structured indoor environment as a suitable SLAM solution.     

Relocalization based on millimeter wave radar point cloud for visually degraded environments

Simultaneously localization and mapping (SLAM) has been widely used in autonomous mobile systems to fulfill autonomous navigation. Relocalization plays an important role in SLAM for closing the loop and eliminating the drift of pose estimation. Traditional methods mostly rely on LiDAR or camera sensors, which may degrade or even fail in rainy or dusty situations or with large illumination changes. In this article, we explore the use of low-cost commercial millimeter wave (mmWave) radars and propose a noval mmWave radar point cloud-based relocalization method. Our method first pre-processes the radar point cloud and, based on that, achieves fast 3-DOF pose estimation for the robot. We build a prototype and thoroughly evaluate our method using data sets collected by our platform in four complex environments, including street, park, road, and water surface scenarios. The experimental results show that our method consistently outperforms other baseline methods including the vision-based counterparts, especially in the visual degraded scenes.     

CCD摄像机标定

在基于单目视觉的农业轮式移动机器人自主导航系统中,CCD摄像机标定是农业轮式移动机器人正确和安全导航的前提和关键。摄像机标定确立了地面某点的三维空间坐标与计算机图像二维坐标之间的对应关系,机器人根据该关系计算出车体位姿值自主导航。因此,根据CCD摄像机针孔成像模型,利用大地坐标系中平面模板上已知的各点坐标,建立与计算机图像空间中各对应像素值之间的关系方程组,在Matlab环境下拟合出摄像机各内外参数。实验结果表明：该方法可以正确完成CCD摄像机标定。     

基于栈式卷积自编码的视觉SLAM闭环检测

同时定位与构图(SLAM)主要用于解决移动机器人在未知环境中进行地图构建和导航的问题,是移动机器人实现自主移动的基础.闭环检测是视觉SLAM的关键步骤,对构建一致性地图和减少位姿累积误差具有重要作用.当前的闭环检测方法通常采用传统的SIFT、SURF等特征,很容易受到环境影响,为了提高闭环检测的准确性和鲁棒性,提出基于无监督栈式卷积自编码(CAEs)模型的特征提取方法,运用训练好的CAEs卷积神经网络对输入图像进行学习,将输出的特征应用于闭环检测.实验结果表明:与传统的BoW方法及其他基于深度学习模型的方法相比,所提出的算法能够有效降低图像特征的维数并改善特征描述的效果,可以在机器人SLAM闭环检测环节获得更好的精确性和鲁棒性.     

Grid-Based Visual SLAM in Complex Environments

This paper presents a novel approach to the real-time SLAM problem that works in unstructured indoor environment with a single forward viewing camera. Most existing visual SLAM extract features from the environment, associate them in different images and produce a feature map as a result. However, we estimate the distances between the robot and the obstacles by applying a visual sonar ranging technique to the image and then associate this range data through the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm and finally produce a grid map. Moreover, we construct a pseudo-dense scan (PDS) which is essentially a temporal accumulation of data, emulating a dense omni-directional sensing of the visual sonar readings based on odometry readings in order to overcome the sparseness of the visual sonar and then associate this scan with the previous one. Moreover, we further correct the slight trajectory error incurred in the PDS construction step to obtain a much more refined map using Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) which is a well-known optimization scheme. Experimental results show that our method can obtain an accurate grid map using a single camera alone without the need for more expensive.     

Robust outdoor stereo vision SLAM for heavy machine rotation sensing

The paper presents a robust outdoor stereo vision simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm. It estimates camera pose reliably in outdoor environments with directional sunlight illumination causing shadows and non-uniform scene lighting. The algorithm has been developed to measure a mining rope shovel’s rotation angle about its vertical axis (“swing” axis). A stereo camera is mounted externally to the shovel house (upper revolvable portion of the shovel), with a clear view of the shovel’s lower carbody. As the shovel house swings, the camera revolves with the shovel house in a planar circular orbit, seeing differing views of the carbody top. During the swing, the SLAM algorithm builds a map of observed 3D features on the carbody and simultaneously using these landmarks to estimate the camera position. This estimated camera position is then used to compute the shovel swing angle. Two novel techniques are employed to improve the SLAM algorithm’s robustness in outdoor environments. First, a “Locally Maximal” feature selection technique for Harris corners is used to select features more consistently in non-uniformly illuminated scenes. Another novel technique is the use of 3D “Feature Clusters” as SLAM landmarks rather than individual single features. The Feature Cluster landmarks improve the robustness of the landmark matching and allow significant reduction of the SLAM filter computational cost. This approach of estimating the shovel swing angle has a maximum error of ±1° upon SLAM map convergence. Results demonstrate the improvements of using the novel techniques compared to previous methods.     

Enhanced Geometric Map: a 2D&3D Hybrid City Model of Large Scale Urban Environment for Robot Navigation

To facilitate scene understanding and robot navigation in large scale urban environment, a two-layer enhanced geometric map(EGMap) is designed using videos from a monocular onboard camera. The 2D layer of EGMap consists of a 2D building boundary map from top-down view and a 2D road map, which can support localization and advanced map-matching when compared with standard polyline-based maps. The 3D layer includes features such as 3D road model,and building facades with coplanar 3D vertical and horizontal line segments, which can provide the 3D metric features to localize the vehicles and flying-robots in 3D space. Starting from the 2D building boundary and road map, EGMap is initially constructed using feature fusion with geometric constraints under a line feature-based simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) framework iteratively and progressively. Then, a local bundle adjustment algorithm is proposed to jointly refine the camera localizations and EGMap features. Furthermore, the issues of uncertainty, memory use, time efficiency and obstacle effect in EGMap construction are discussed and analyzed. Physical experiments show that EGMap can be successfully constructed in large scale urban environment and the construction method is demonstrated to be very accurate and robust.     

On actively closing loops in grid-based FastSLAM

Acquiring models of the environment belongs to the fundamental tasks of mobile robots. In the past, several researchers have focused on the problem of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Classical SLAM approaches are passive in the sense that they only process the perceived sensor data and do not influence the motion of the mobile robot. In this paper, we present a novel integrated approach that combines autonomous exploration with simultaneous localization and mapping. Our method uses a grid-based version of the FastSLAM algorithm and considers at each point in time actions to actively close loops during exploration. By re-entering already visited areas, the robot reduces its localization error and in this way learns more accurate maps. Experimental results presented in this paper illustrate the advantage of our method over previous approaches that lack the ability to actively close loops.     

A Sensor-based SLAM Algorithm for Camera Tracking vin Virtual Studio

This paper addresses a sensor-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm for camera tracking in a virtual studio environment. The traditional camera tracking methods in virtual studios are vision-based or sensor-based. However, the chroma keying process in virtual studios requires color cues, such as blue background, to segment foreground objects to be inserted into images and videos. Chroma keying limits the application of vision-based tracking methods in virtual studios since the background cannot provide enough feature information. Furthermore, the conventional sensor-based tracking approaches suffer from the jitter, drift or expensive computation due to the characteristics of individual sensor system. Therefore, the SLAM techniques from the mobile robot area are first investigated and adapted to the camera tracking area. Then, a sensor-based SLAM extension algorithm for two dimensional (2D) camera tracking in virtual studio is described. Also, a technique called map adjustment is proposed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of the algorithm. The feasibility and robustness of the algorithm is shown by experiments. The simulation results demonstrate that the sensor-based SLAM algorithm can satisfy the fundamental 2D camera tracking requirement in virtual studio environment.     

A sensor-based SLAM algorithm for camera tracking in virtual studio

This paper addresses a sensor-based simultaneous localization and mapping （SLAM） algorithm for camera tracking in a virtual studio environment. The traditional camera tracking methods in virtual studios are vision-based or sensor-based. However, the chroma keying process in virtual studios requires color cues, such as blue background, to segment foreground objects to be inserted into images and videos. Chroma keying limits the application of vision-based tracking methods in virtual studios since the background cannot provide enough feature information. Furthermore, the conventional sensor-based tracking approaches suffer from the jitter, drift or expensive computation due to the characteristics of individual sensor system. Therefore, the SLAM techniques from the mobile robot area are first investigated and adapted to the camera tracking area. Then, a sensor-based SLAM extension algorithm for two dimensional （2D） camera tracking in virtual studio is described. Also, a technique called map adjustment is proposed to increase the accuracy＇ and efficiency of the algorithm. The feasibility and robustness of the algorithm is shown by experiments. The simulation results demonstrate that the sensor-based SLAM algorithm can satisfy the fundamental 2D camera tracking requirement in virtual studio environment.     

Autonomous Salient Feature Detection through Salient Cues in an HSV Color Space for Visual Indoor Simultaneous Localization and Mapping

For successful simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), perception of the environment is important. This paper proposes a scheme to autonomously detect visual features that can be used as natural landmarks for indoor SLAM. First, features are roughly selected from the camera image through entropy maps that measure the level of randomness of pixel information. Then, the saliency of each pixel is computed by measuring the level of similarity between the selected features and the given image. In the saliency map, it is possible to distinguish the salient features from the background. The robot estimates its pose by using the detected features and builds a grid map of the unknown environment by using a range sensor. The feature positions are stored in the grid map. Experimental results show that the feature detection method proposed in this paper can autonomously detect features in unknown environments reasonably well.