Localization methods for a mobile robot in urban environments

• Published in: IEEE transactions on robotics Vol. 20; no. 5; pp. 851 - 864
• Main Authors: Georgiev, A., Allen, P.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.10.2004; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Buildings; Cameras; Computer science; control theory; systems; Control theory. Systems; Exact sciences and technology; Global Positioning System; Localization method; Mathematical models; Mobile robots; Navigation; Navigation systems; Photometry; Position (location); Robot sensing systems; Robot vision systems; Robotics; Robotics and automation; Robots; Sensors; Uncertainty; Urban areas; Tilt angle; Computer vision; Urban environment; Navigation; Image matching; Moving robot; Linear estimation; Localization; Extended Kalman filter; Robotics
• ISSN: 1552-3098; 1941-0468
• DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2004.829506

This paper addresses the problems of building a functional mobile robot for urban site navigation and modeling with focus on keeping track of the robot location. We have developed a localization system that employs two methods. The first method uses odometry, a compass and tilt sensor, and a global positioning sensor. An extended Kalman filter integrates the sensor data and keeps track of the uncertainty associated with it. The second method is based on camera pose estimation. It is used when the uncertainty from the first method becomes very large. The pose estimation is done by matching linear features in the image with a simple and compact environmental model. We have demonstrated the functionality of the robot and the localization methods with real-world experiments.