Abstract
An algorithm is presented that intelligently merges multiple 3D point clouds used for localization based on when the point cloud was recorded to create an updated map that is more similar to the current environment. The algorithm was implemented on a Boston Dynamics Spot robot and was used to upgrade Spot’s autonomous navigation algorithm called Autowalk by adding the capability for long-term navigation in semi-static environments. The proposed algorithm was validated by having Spot navigate both indoor and outdoor environments over multiple months traveling over 43 km autonomously without losing localization. The proposed method extends the life of programmed autonomous missions to ensure a robot can be used over extended periods of time without the need to re-teach these autonomous missions due to changes in the environment.
Issue Section:
Research Papers
References
1.
Cadena
, C.
, Carlone
, L.
, Carrillo
, H.
, Latif
, Y.
, Scaramuzza
, D.
, Neira
, J.
, Reid
, I.
, and Leonard
, J. J.
, 2016
, “Past, Present, and Future of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping: Toward the Robust-Perception Age
,” IEEE Trans. Rob.
, 32
(6
), pp. 1309
–1332
. 2.
Hähnel
, D.
, Schulz
, D.
, and Burgard
, W.
, 2003
, “Mobile Robot Mapping in Populated Environments
,” Adv. Rob.
, 17
(7
), pp. 579
–597
. 3.
Wolf
, D. F.
, and Sukhatme
, G. S.
, 2005
, “Mobile Robot Simultaneous Localization and Mapping in Dynamic Environments
,” Auton. Rob.
, 19
(1
), pp. 53
–65
. 4.
Verdoja
, F.
, Kucner
, T. P.
, and Kyrki
, V.
, 2022
, “Generating People Flow From Architecture of Real Unseen Environments
,” arXiv preprint
. https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.108515.
Biber
, P.
, and Duckett
, T.
, 2005
, “Dynamic Maps for Long-Term Operation of Mobile Service Robots
,” Robotics: Science and Systems
, Cambridge, MA
, June 8–11
, pp. 17
–24
.6.
Biber
, P.
, and Duckett
, T.
, 2009
, “Experimental Analysis of Sample-Based Maps for Long-Term SLAM
,” Int. J. Rob. Res.
, 28
(1
), pp. 20
–33
. 7.
Churchill
, W.
, and Newman
, P.
, 2012
, “Practice Makes Perfect? Managing and Leveraging Visual Experiences for Lifelong Navigation
,” 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
, Saint Paul, MN
, May 14–18
, IEEE
, pp. 4525
–4532
.8.
Paton
, M.
, MacTavish
, K.
, Warren
, M.
, and Barfoot
, T. D.
, 2016
, “Bridging the Appearance Gap: Multi-experience Localization for Long-Term Visual Teach and Repeat
,” 2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
, Daejeon, South Korea
, Oct. 9–14
, IEEE
, pp. 1918
–1925
.9.
Paton
, M.
, Pomerleau
, F.
, MacTavish
, K.
, Ostafew
, C. J.
, and Barfoot
, T. D.
, 2017
, “Expanding the Limits of Vision-Based Localization for Long-Term Route-Following Autonomy
,” J. Field Rob.
, 34
(1
), pp. 98
–122
. 10.
Konolige
, K.
, and Bowman
, J.
, 2009
, “Towards Lifelong Visual Maps
,” 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
, St. Louis, MO
, Oct. 11–15
, IEEE
, pp. 1156
–1163
.11.
Konolige
, K.
, Bowman
, J.
, Chen
, J.
, Mihelich
, P.
, Calonder
, M.
, Lepetit
, V.
, and Fua
, P.
, 2010
, “View-Based Maps
,” Int. J. Rob. Res.
, 29
(8
), pp. 941
–957
. 12.
Rosen
, D. M.
, Mason
, J.
, and Leonard
, J. J.
, 2016
, “Towards Lifelong Feature-Based Mapping in Semi-Static Environments
,” 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
, Stockholm, Sweden
, May 16–21
, IEEE
, pp. 1063
–1070
.13.
Mühlfellner
, P.
, Bürki
, M.
, Bosse
, M.
, Derendarz
, W.
, Philippsen
, R.
, and Furgale
, P.
, 2016
, “Summary Maps for Lifelong Visual Localization
,” J. Field Rob.
, 33
(5
), pp. 561
–590
. 14.
Saarinen
, J.
, Andreasson
, H.
, and Lilienthal
, A. J.
, 2012
, “Independent Markov Chain Occupancy Grid Maps for Representation of Dynamic Environment
,” 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
, Vilamoura-Algarve, Portugal
, Oct. 7–12
, IEEE
, pp. 3489
–3495
.15.
Meyer-Delius
, D.
, Beinhofer
, M.
, and Burgard
, W.
, 2012
, “Occupancy Grid Models for Robot Mapping in Changing Environments
,” Twenty-Sixth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence
, Toronto, Canada
, July 22–26
, pp. 2024
–2030
.16.
Stefanini
, E.
, Ciancolini
, E.
, Settimi
, A.
, and Pallottino
, L.
, 2022
, “Efficient 2D LIDAR-Based Map Updating for Long-Term Operations in Dynamic Environments
,” 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
, Kyoto, Japan
, Oct. 23–27
, IEEE
, pp. 832
–839
.17.
Banerjee
, N.
, Lisin
, D.
, Lenser
, S. R.
, Briggs
, J.
, Baravalle
, R.
, Albanese
, V.
, Chen
, Y.
, Karimian
, A.
, Ramaswamy
, T.
, Pilotti
, P.
, and Alonso
, M. L.
, 2023
, “Lifelong Mapping in the Wild: Novel Strategies for Ensuring Map Stability and Accuracy Over Time Evaluated on Thousands of Robots
,” Rob. Auton. Syst.
, 164
, p. 104403
. 18.
Walcott-Bryant
, A.
, Kaess
, M.
, Johannsson
, H.
, and Leonard
, J. J.
, 2012
, “Dynamic Pose Graph SLAM: Long-Term Mapping in Low Dynamic Environments
,” 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
, Vilamoura-Algarve, Portugal
, Oct. 7–12
, IEEE
, pp. 1871
–1878
.19.
Egger
, P.
, Borges
, P. V.
, Catt
, G.
, Pfrunder
, A.
, Siegwart
, R.
, and Dubé
, R.
, 2018
, “Posemap: Lifelong, Multi-environment 3D LiDAR Localization
,” 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
, Madrid, Spain
, Oct. 1–5
, IEEE
, pp. 3430
–3437
.20.
Maddern
, W.
, Pascoe
, G.
, and Newman
, P.
, 2015
, “Leveraging Experience for Large-Scale LIDAR Localisation in Changing Cities
,” 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
, Seattle, WA
, May 26–30
, IEEE
, pp. 1684
–1691
.21.
Withers
, D.
, and Newman
, P.
, 2017
, “Modelling Scene Change for Large-Scale Long Term Laser Localisation
,” 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
, Singapore
, May 29–June 3
, IEEE
, pp. 6233
–6239
.22.
Cao
, F.
, Wu
, H.
, and Wu
, C.
, 2022
, “An End-to-End Localizer for Long-Term Topological Localization in Large-Scale Changing Environments
,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.
, 70
(5
), pp. 5140
–5149
. 23.
Santos
, J. M.
, Krajník
, T.
, Fentanes
, J. P.
, and Duckett
, T.
, 2016
, “Lifelong Information-Driven Exploration to Complete and Refine 4-D Spatio-Temporal Maps
,” IEEE Rob. Autom. Lett.
, 1
(2
), pp. 684
–691
. 24.
Krajnik
, T.
, Fentanes
, J. P.
, Cielniak
, G.
, Dondrup
, C.
, and Duckett
, T.
, 2014
, “Spectral Analysis for Long-Term Robotic Mapping
,” 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
, Hong Kong, China
, May 31–June 7
, IEEE
, pp. 3706
–3711
.25.
Krajník
, T.
, Fentanes
, J. P.
, Santos
, J. M.
, and Duckett
, T.
, 2017
, “Fremen: Frequency Map Enhancement for Long-Term Mobile Robot Autonomy in Changing Environments
,” IEEE Trans. Rob.
, 33
(4
), pp. 964
–977
. 26.
Zhou
, Q.-Y.
, Park
, J.
, and Koltun
, V.
, 2018
, “Open3D: A Modern Library for 3D Data Processing”. arXiv:1801.09847.27.
Besl
, P. J.
, and McKay
, N. D.
, 1992
, “Method for Registration of 3-D Shapes
,” Sensor Fusion IV: Control Paradigms and Data Structures
, Vol. 1611
, Boston, MA
, April
, SPIE
, pp. 586
–606
.28.
Copyright © 2024 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.
