Robust Navigation by Probabilistic Volumetric Sensing
Project Head:
Ours is a 100% effort to develop laboratory prototype sensor-based software for utility mobile robots for industrial transport, floor maintenance, security etc., that matches the months-between-error reliability of existing industrial robots without requiring their expensive worksite preparation or site-specific programming. Our machines will navigate employing a dense 3D awareness of their surroundings, be tolerant of route surprises, and be easily placed by ordinary workers in entirely new routes or work areas. The long-elusive combination of easy installation and reliability should greatly expand cost-effective niches for mobile robots, and make possible a growing market that can itself sustain further development.