Effective landmark placement for accurate and reliable mobile robot navigation

Being able to navigate accurately is one of the fundamental capabilities of a mobile robot to effectively execute a variety of tasks including docking, transportation, and manipulation. As real-world environments often contain changing or ambiguous areas, existing features can be insufficient for mobile robots to establish a robust navigation behavior. A popular approach to overcome this problem and to achieve accurate localization is to use artificial landmarks. In this paper, we consider the problem of optimally placing such artificial landmarks for mobile robots that repeatedly have to carry out certain navigation tasks. Our method aims at finding the minimum number of landmarks for which a bound on the maximum deviation of the robot from its desired trajectory can be guaranteed with high confidence. The proposed approach incrementally places landmarks utilizing linearized versions of the system dynamics of the robot, thus allowing for an efficient computation of the deviation guarantee. We evaluate our approach in extensive experiments carried out both in simulations and with real robots. The experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms other approaches and is suitable for long-term operation of mobile robots.     

Visual Navigation in Natural Environments: From Range and Color Data to a Landmark-Based Model

This paper concerns the exploration of a natural environment by a mobile robot equipped with both a video color camera and a stereo-vision system. We focus on the interest of such a multi-sensory system to deal with the navigation of a robot in an a priori unknown environment, including (1) the incremental construction of a landmark-based model, and the use of these landmarks for (2) the 3-D localization of the mobile robot and for (3) a sensor-based navigation mode.For robot localization, a slow process and a fast one are simultaneously executed during the robot motions. In the modeling process (currently 0.1 Hz), the global landmark-based model is incrementally built and the robot situation can be estimated from discriminant landmarks selected amongst the detected objects in the range data. In the tracking process (currently 4 Hz), selected landmarks are tracked in the visual data; the tracking results are used to simplify the matching between landmarks in the modeling process.Finally, a sensor-based visual navigation mode, based on the same landmark selection and tracking, is also presented; in order to navigate during a long robot motion, different landmarks (targets) can be selected as a sequence of sub-goals that the robot must successively reach.     

移动机器人的一种室内自然路标定位法

实时定位是移动机器人导航的一个基本前提。该文提出了一种利用墙棱边及墙平面(EdgeandPlane,EP)路标或者广义EP路标进行定位的方法,使用了异步数据融合的方法对移动机器人进行了定位。仅利用传感器对墙平面的距离数据进行测量就实现了机器人的定位。仿真显示这些方法能减少机器人的定位时间,提高对传感器测量数据的利用效率。     

Improved visual SLAM: a novel approach to mapping and localization using visual landmarks in consecutive frames

Pathfinding is becoming more and more common in autonomous vehicle navigation, robot localization, and other computer vision applications. In this paper, a novel approach to mapping and localization is presented that extracts visual landmarks from a robot dataset acquired by a Kinect sensor. The visual landmarks are detected and recognized using the improved scale-invariant feature transform (I-SIFT) method. The methodology is based on detecting stable and invariant landmarks in consecutive (red-green-blue depth) RGB-D frames of the robot dataset. These landmarks are then used to determine the robot path, and a map is constructed by using the visual landmarks. A number of experiments were performed on various datasets in an indoor environment. The proposed method performs efficient landmark detection in various environments, which includes changes in rotation and illumination. The experimental results show that the proposed method can solve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem using stable visual landmarks, but with less computation time.     

Dynamic Modeling of a Class of Continuum Manipulators in Fixed Orientation

A novel simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technique based on independent particle filters for landmark mapping and localization for a mobile robot based on a high-frequency (HF)-band radio-frequency identification (RFID) system is proposed in this paper. SLAM is a technique for performing self-localization and map building simultaneously. FastSLAM is a standard landmark-based SLAM method. RFID is a robust identification system with ID tags and readers over wireless communication; further, it is rarely affected by obstacles in the robot area or by lighting conditions. Therefore, RFID is useful for self-localization and mapping for a mobile robot with a reasonable accuracy and sufficient robustness. In this study, multiple HF-band RFID readers are embedded in the bottom of an omnidirectional vehicle, and a large number of tags are installed on the floor. The HF-band RFID tags are used as the landmarks of the environment. We found that FastSLAM is not appropriate for this condition for two reasons. First, the tag detection of the HF-band RFID system does not follow the standard Gaussian distribution, which FastSLAM is supposed to have. Second, FastSLAM does not have a sufficient scalability, which causes its failure to handle a large number of landmarks. Therefore, we propose a novel SLAM method with two independent particle filters to solve these problems. The first particle filter is for self-localization based on Monte Carlo localization. The second particle filter is for landmark mapping. The particle filters are nonparametric so that it can handle the non-Gaussian distribution of the landmark detection. The separation of localization and landmark mapping reduces the computational cost significantly. The proposed method is evaluated in simulated and real environments. The experimental results show that the proposed method has more precise localization and mapping and a lower computational cost than FastSLAM.     

Vision-based global localization and mapping for mobile robots

We have previously developed a mobile robot system which uses scale-invariant visual landmarks to localize and simultaneously build three-dimensional (3-D) maps of unmodified environments. In this paper, we examine global localization, where the robot localizes itself globally, without any prior location estimate. This is achieved by matching distinctive visual landmarks in the current frame to a database map. A Hough transform approach and a RANSAC approach for global localization are compared, showing that RANSAC is much more efficient for matching specific features, but much worse for matching nonspecific features. Moreover, robust global localization can be achieved by matching a small submap of the local region built from multiple frames. This submap alignment algorithm for global localization can be applied to map building, which can be regarded as alignment of multiple 3-D submaps. A global minimization procedure is carried out using the loop closure constraint to avoid the effects of slippage and drift accumulation. Landmark uncertainty is taken into account in the submap alignment and the global minimization process. Experiments show that global localization can be achieved accurately using the scale-invariant landmarks. Our approach of pairwise submap alignment with backward correction in a consistent manner produces a better global 3-D map.     

基于序列图像的视觉定位与运动估计

研究了移动机器人的视觉定位和目标的运动估计。采用单目视觉系统,借助人工标识物,由小孔成像模型及空间几何关系,推导出视觉测距模型,并实现了移动机器人的自定位和目标的定位。通过序列图像,应用基于特征的运动分析方法估计球体的运动参数,推导出移动机器人对运动目标的跟踪模型。球体定位实验结果表明:该方法的定位精度较高。     

Landmark detection in mobile robotics using fuzzy temporal rules

Detection of landmarks is essential in mobile robotics for navigation tasks like building topological maps or robot localization. Doors are one of the most common landmarks since they show the topological structure of indoor environments. In this paper, the novel paradigm of fuzzy temporal rules is used for detecting doors from the information of ultrasound sensors. This paradigm can be used both to model the necessary knowledge for detection and to consider the temporal variation of several sensor signals. Experimental results using a Nomad 200 mobile robot in a real environment produce 91% of doors were correctly detected, which show the reliability and robustness of the system.     

一种无线传感器信号衰减自适应测距模型

使用无线传感器作为路标实现机器人定位具有许多优势,但无线传感器与机器人之间的距离测量存在易受环境干扰的缺点.为了解决这一难题,在对无线传感器射频信号衰减原理分析的基础上,基于在线学习的方法为无线传感器路标建立自适应的信号衰减测距模型.由于模型学习过程是在线进行的,环境因素对无线信号传播衰减的影响被包含在模型中,故此测距模型提高了对无线信号传播环境的适应能力.此外,把路标的身份作为测距模型的输入,从而区分了传感器个体的差异,实验结果证明了这种建模方法在提高无线传感器测距精度方面的有效性.     

Simultaneous localization and mapping using the Geometric Projection Filter and correspondence graph matching

A common way of localization in robotics is using triangulation on a system composed of a sensor and some landmarks (which can be artificial or natural). First, when no identifying marks are set on the landmarks, their identification by a robust algorithm is a complex problem which may be solved using correspondence graphs. Secondly, when the localization system has no a priori information about its environment, it has to build its own map in parallel with estimating its position, a problem known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Recent works have proposed to solve this problem based on building a map made of invariant features. This paper describes the algorithms and data structure needed to deal with landmark matching, robot localization and map building in a single efficient process, unifying the previous approaches. Experimental results are presented using an outdoor robot car equipped with a two-dimensional scanning laser sensor.     

Magnetic landmark-based position correction technique for mobile robots with hall sensors

We propose a precise position error compensation and low-cost relative localization method in structured environments using magnetic landmarks and hall sensors. The proposed methodology can solve the problem of fine localization as well as global localization by tacking landmarks or by utilizing various patterns of magnetic landmark arrangement. In this paper, we consider two patterns of implanted permanent magnets on the surface, namely, at each vertex of regular triangles or rectangles on a flat surface. We show that the rectangular configuration of the permanent magnetic bars is better for a robust localization under sensor noise. For the experiments, permanent magnet sets in rectangular configuration are placed on the floor as landmarks at regular intervals, and magnetic hall sensors are installed at the bottom of a mobile robot. In our implementation, the accuracy after the error compensation is less than 1 mm in the position and less than 1° in the orientation. Due to the low cost and accuracy of the proposed methodology, it would be one of the practical solutions to the pose error correction of a mobile robot in structured environments.     

一种新颖的基于两个特征点的室内移动机器人定位方法

提出了一种新颖的基于两个特征点的室内移动机器人定位方法。与已有的几何位姿估计方法或航标匹配方法不同,该方法不需要人工航标,也不需要准确的环境地图,只需一幅由传统的CCD相机拍摄的图像。从机器人接近的目标上选取相对于地面等高的两个点作为两个特征点。基于这两点建立一个目标坐标系。在相机平视且这两个特征点与相机投影中心相对于地面不是恰好等高的条件下,就可以根据这两个特征点在图像中的坐标确定机器人相对于目标坐标系的位置和运动方向。该方法非常灵活,适用范围广,可以大大简化机器人定位问题。试验结果表明这一新的方法不仅简单灵活而且具有很高的定位精度。     

基于人工路标的易部署室内机器人全局定位系统

在一些布局易变或存在较多动态障碍物的室内,移动机器人的全局定位依然面临较大的应用挑战.针对这类场景,实现了一种新的基于人工路标的易部署室内机器人全局定位系统.该系统将人工路标粘贴在不易被遮挡的天花板上来作为参照物,仅依赖一个摄像头即能实现稳定的全局定位.整个系统根据具体的功能分为地图构建和全局定位两个过程.在地图构建过程中,系统使用激光SLAM算法所输出的位姿估计结果为基准,根据相机对路标点的观测信息来自动估计人工路标点在全局坐标系中的位姿,建立人工路标地图.而在全局定位过程中,该系统则是根据相机对地图中已知位姿的人工路标点的观测信息,结合里程计与IMU融合的预积分信息来对位姿进行实时估计.充分的实验测试表明,机器人在该系统所部署范围内运行的定位误差稳定在10 cm以内,且运行过程可以保证实时位姿输出,满足典型实际室内移动机器人全局定位的应用需求.     

Robot navigation using panoramic tracking

A vision-based navigation system is presented for determining a mobile robot's position and orientation using panoramic imagery. Omni-directional sensors are useful in obtaining a 360° field of view, permitting various objects in the vicinity of a robot to be imaged simultaneously. Recognizing landmarks in a panoramic image from an a priori model of distinct features in an environment allows a robot's location information to be updated. A system is shown for tracking vertex and line features for omni-directional cameras constructed with catadioptric (containing both mirrors and lenses) optics. With the aid of the panoramic Hough transform, line features can be tracked without restricting the mirror geometry so that it satisfies the single viewpoint criteria. This allows the use of rectangular scene features to be used as landmarks. Two paradigms for localization are explored, with experiments conducted with synthetic and real images. A working implementation on a mobile robot is also shown.     

Learning to select distinctive landmarks for mobile robot navigation

In landmark-based navigation systems for mobile robots, sensory perceptions (e.g., laser or sonar scans) are used to identify the robot’s current location or to construct internal representations, maps, of the robot’s environment. Being based on an external frame of reference (which is not subject to incorrigible drift errors such as those occurring in odometry-based systems), landmark-based robot navigation systems are now widely used in mobile robot applications.The problem that has attracted most attention to date in landmark-based navigation research is the question of how to deal with perceptual aliasing, i.e., perceptual ambiguities. In contrast, what constitutes a good landmark, or how to select landmarks for mapping, is still an open research topic. The usual method of landmark selection is to map perceptions at regular intervals, which has the drawback of being inefficient and possibly missing ‘good’ landmarks that lie between sampling points.In this paper, we present an automatic landmark selection algorithm that allows a mobile robot to select conspicuous landmarks from a continuous stream of sensory perceptions, without any pre-installed knowledge or human intervention during the selection process. This algorithm can be used to make mapping mechanisms more efficient and reliable. Experimental results obtained with two different mobile robots in a range of environments are presented and analysed.     

基于全景视觉的移动机器人同步定位与地图创建研究

提出了一种基于全景视觉的移动机器人同步定位与地图创建（Omni-vSLAM）方法．该方法提取 颜色区域作为视觉路标;在分析全景视觉成像原理和定位不确定性的基础上建立起系统的观测模型,定位出 路标位置,进而通过扩展卡尔曼滤波算法（EKF）同步更新机器人位置和地图信息．实验结果证明了该方法在 建立环境地图的同时可以有效地修正由里程计造成的累积定位误差．     

The study of path error for an omnidirectional home care mobile robot

The first objective of this research was to develop an omnidirectional home care mobile robot. A PC-based controller controls the mobile robot platform. This service mobile robot is equipped with an “indoor positioning system” and an obstacle avoidance system. The indoor positioning system is used for rapid and precise positioning and guidance of the mobile robot. The obstacle avoidance system can detect static and dynamic obstacles. In order to understand the stability of a three-wheeled omnidirectional mobile robot, we carried out some experiments to measure the rectangular and circular path errors of the proposed mobile robot in this research. From the experimental results, we found that the path error was smaller with the guidance of the localization system. The mobile robot can also return to its starting point. The localization system can successfully maintain the robot’s heading angle along a circular path.     

Bayesian Landmark Learning for Mobile Robot Localization

To operate successfully in indoor environments, mobile robots must be able to localize themselves. Most current localization algorithms lack flexibility, autonomy, and often optimality, since they rely on a human to determine what aspects of the sensor data to use in localization (e.g., what landmarks to use). This paper describes a learning algorithm, called BaLL, that enables mobile robots to learn what features/landmarks are best suited for localization, and also to train artificial neural networks for extracting them from the sensor data. A rigorous Bayesian analysis of probabilistic localization is presented, which produces a rational argument for evaluating features, for selecting them optimally, and for training the networks that approximate the optimal solution. In a systematic experimental study, BaLL outperforms two other recent approaches to mobile robot localization.     

Beobot 2.0: Cluster architecture for mobile robotics

With the recent proliferation of robust but computationally demanding robotic algorithms, there is now a need for a mobile robot platform equipped with powerful computing facilities. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of Beobot 2.0, an affordable research‐level mobile robot equipped with a cluster of 16 2.2‐GHz processing cores. Beobot 2.0 uses compact Computer on Module (COM) processors with modest power requirements, thus accommodating various robot design constraints while still satisfying the requirement for computationally intensive algorithms. We discuss issues involved in utilizing multiple COM Express modules on a mobile platform, such as interprocessor communication, power consumption, cooling, and protection from shocks, vibrations, and other environmental hazards such as dust and moisture. We have applied Beobot 2.0 to the following computationally demanding tasks: laser‐based robot navigation, scale‐invariant feature transform (SIFT) object recognition, finding objects in a cluttered scene using visual saliency, and vision‐based localization, wherein the robot has to identify landmarks from a large database of images in a timely manner. For the last task, we tested the localization system in three large‐scale outdoor environments, which provide 3,583, 6,006, and 8,823 test frames, respectively. The localization errors for the three environments were 1.26, 2.38, and 4.08 m, respectively. The per‐frame processing times were 421.45, 794.31, and 884.74 ms respectively, representing speedup factors of 2.80, 3.00, and 3.58 when compared to a single dual‐core computer performing localization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.