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SLAM robot navigation. Now heres something all of us could use for sure.
Robot Fiction SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping) is a technique used by Only $.99!
robots and autonomous vehicles to build a map within an unknown
Arduino Book environment, or to update a map within a known environment, while
 Robot Comics keeping track of their current location. Think instant and instantly
updatable Google maps in your system.
Zoey's Blog
Robot Games One of the most widely researched subfields of robotics, SLAM robot
navigation seems simple, but its deceptively so. Imagine a simple mobile
R2D2 & C3PO robot, which in this case, is a set of wheels connected to a motor and a
About Us camera, complete with actuators or physical devices for controlling the
speed and direction of the unit. Now imagine this robot being remotely
Roomba Batteries
propelled by a human operator to map inaccessible places. The actuators
ROS allow the robot to move around while the camera provides enough visual
information for the operator to understand where surrounding objects are
Military Robots
and how the robot is oriented in reference to them.
Robot History
What the human operator is doing is an example of SLAM robot navigation.
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Mapping is basically determining the location of objects in the environment
Apple Robotics and localization is establishing the robots position with respect to these
InMoov and Gael objects is. The challenge for researchers in the SLAM subfield of robotics is
attempting to find a way for robots to do this autonomously, without any
Roboholics human assistance whatsoever.
Industrial Robots
Because SLAM robot navigation basically means building a model leading to
Robot Parts a new map or repetitively improving an existing map while at the same
Robot Expo 2014 time localizing the robot within that map, an inherent problem is created:
The answers to the two characteristic questions cannot be delivered
Rent a Robot independently of each other.
Hanson Robotics
It is simply too complex a task to estimate the robot's current location
Robophobia without an existing map or without a directional reference. Many people
Robot College therefore refer to SLAM as a chicken or egg problem: An unbiased map is
needed for localization while an accurate pose estimate is needed to build
OldEtc Blog that map. Now imagine if a solution to the SLAM problem could be found,
Robot Building Hints infinite mapping possibilities would then be well within reach.
A.I. Robot Maps could be made in areas which are too dangerous or inaccessible to
AI Phobia humans, like deep-sea environments or unstable structures. It would make
robot navigation possible in places like space stations and other planets,
removing the need for localization methods like GPS or man-made beacons.
GPS is currently only accurate to within about one half of a meter, which is
often more than enough to be the difference between successful mapping
and getting lost. Man-made beacons, on the other hand, are expensive in
terms of time and money.

SLAM robot navigation is a big but relatively new subfield of robotics. It was
originally developed by Hugh Durrant-Whyte and John J. Leonard based on
earlier work by Smith, Self and Cheeseman. It wasnt until the mid 1980s
that Smith and Durrant-Whyte developed a concrete representation of
uncertainty in feature location, which was a major step in establishing the
significance of finding a practical rather than a theoretical solution to robot
navigation.

The paper provided a foundation for finding ways to deal with the errors
associated with navigation. Soon thereafter another study proved the
existence of a correlation between feature location errors due to errors in
motion, which affect all feature locations.

There are other problems connected to SLAM robot navigation, as specific

and detailed mapping is always complex. For example, if a map built using
the measured distance and direction traveled by a robot has a set of
inaccuracies, brought by inefficient sensors and additional ambient noise
(distractions), then any features being added to the map will contain
corresponding errors. Over time and motion, locating and mapping errors
would then build cumulatively, inevitably distorting the map and the robot's
ability to determine its actual location and move with sufficient accuracy.
There are various techniques to compensate for errors, such as recognizing
features that it has come across previously, and putting together recent
parts of the map to make sure the two instances of that feature become
one.

There are also new features and variants of the SLAM algorithm that have
come out and continue to come out, such as MITs Atlas. MIT researchers
have developed a topological approach to SLAM that allows a robot to map
large scale environments by combining smaller maps. Applications for the
technology range from Navy AUVs to flying robots that can map caves in
Afganistan.

The CMU Robotics Institute describes a new variation that is commonly

used in mobile robots called FastSLAM. This uses a particle filter that allows
the robot to assimilate more landmarks into its internal map representation
faster than traditional Robot Navigation SLAM. The FastSLAM algorithms
were tested on a standard pickup truck that has been converted into an
autonomous robot capable of speeds up to 90 Km/h.

RoboRealm, an application for use in computer vision, image analysis, and

robotic vision systems also makes use of the SLAM algorithm with its AVM
Navigator module. Its a third party module that provides object recognition
functionality, allowing one to program robots to recognize objects in the
environment. The module also lets the human operator navigate the robot
in relation to those objects. It has a Navigate mode, which is similar to
Object Recognition, but provides variables that specify which direction the
object is in relation to the robot.

Using these variables one can steer the robot towards a particular object as
the algorithm attempts to align the position of a turret (with a camera fixed
on top) and body of the robot to the center of the recognized object. If
multiple objects are recognized, the object with the highest index (most
recently learned object) is chosen. There is also the Nova gate mode, which
is similar to the Navigate mode. This provides a visual stepping stone
functionality by identifying 'gate' objects in succession. By sequentially
identifying objects one can lead a robot along a path of visual markers.
Once a route is complete, the robot can re-travel that route by identifying
the same gates/objects and use these gates to steer the robot along the
correct path.

Some variations include "vSLAM" (visual Simultaneous Localization and

Mapping) that does localization and mapping with a single camera and dead
reckoning, and "ratSLAM" a robot navigation system based on models of a
rat's brain.

Seriously, I know a lot of human drivers who would benefit from SLAM
robot navigation more than these robots.

SLAM Robot Navigation: RatSLAM

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