An Iconic Position Estimator for a 2-D Laser Rangefinder

Abstract

Position determination for a mobile robot is an important part of autonomous navigation. In many cases, dead reckoning is insufficient because it leads to large inaccuracies over time. Beacon- and landmark-based estimators require the emplacement of beacons and the presence of natural or man-made structure respectively in the environment. In this paper we present a new algorithm for efficiently computing accurate position estimates based on a radially-scanning laser rangefinder that requires minimal structure in the environment. The algorithm employs a connected set of short lie segments to approximate the shape of any environment and can easily be constructed by the rangefinder itself. We describe techniques for efficiently managing the environment map, matching the sensor data to the map, and computing the robot's position. We present accuracy and runtime results for our implementation.