Robotic mapping is a discipline related to

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

and

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

. The goal for an

autonomous robot An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. Historic examples include space probes. Modern examples include self-driving Robotic vacuum cleaner, vacuums and Self-driving car, cars. Industrial robot, Industrial robot ...

is to be able to construct (or use) a map (outdoor use) or

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

(indoor use) and to localize itself and its recharging bases or beacons in it. Robotic mapping is that branch which deals with the study and application of the ability to localize itself in a map/plan, and sometimes to construct the map or floor plan by the autonomous

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

. Evolutionarily shaped blind action may suffice to keep some animals alive. For some

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, for example, the environment is not interpreted as a map, and they survive only with a triggered response. A slightly more elaborate navigation strategy dramatically enhances the capabilities of the robot. Cognitive maps enable planning capacities and the use of current perceptions, memorized events, and expected consequences.

Operation

The robot has two sources of information: the idiothetic and the allothetic sources. When in motion, a robot can use

dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating the current position of a moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and incorporating estimates of speed, heading (or direction or course), and elapsed time. T ...

methods such as tracking the number of revolutions of its wheels; this corresponds to the idiothetic source and can give the absolute position of the robot, but it is subject to cumulative error, which can grow quickly. The allothetic source corresponds to the sensors of the robot, like a camera, a microphone,

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

, or

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

. The problem here is " perceptual aliasing". This means that two different places can be perceived as the same. For example, in a building, it is nearly impossible to determine a location solely with the visual information, because all the corridors may look the same. 3-dimensional models of a robot's environment can be generated using range imaging sensors or

3D scanner 3D scanning is the process of analyzing a real-world object or environment to collect three dimensional data of its shape and possibly its appearance (e.g. color). The collected data can then be used to construct digital 3D models. A 3D scanner ...

Map representation

The internal representation of the map can be "metric" or "topological": *The metric framework is the most common for humans and considers a two-dimensional space in which it places the objects. The objects are placed with precise coordinates. This representation is very useful, but it is sensitive to noise, and it is difficult to calculate the distances precisely. *The topological framework only considers places and relations between them. Often, the distances between places are stored. The map is then a graph, in which the nodes correspond to places and arcs correspond to the paths. Many techniques use probabilistic representations of the map in order to handle uncertainty. There are three main methods of map representations, i.e., free space maps, object maps, and composite maps. These employ the notion of a grid, but permit the resolution of the grid to vary so that it can become finer where more accuracy is needed and more coarse where the map is uniform.

Map learning

Map learning cannot be separated from the localization process, and a difficulty arises when errors in localization are incorporated into the map. This problem is commonly referred to as Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). An important additional problem is to determine whether the robot is in a part of environment already stored or never visited. One way to solve this problem is by using electric beacons,

Near field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the boots ...

(NFC),

WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

, Visible light communication (VLC) and Li-Fi and

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

Path planning

Path planning Motion planning, also path planning (also known as the navigation problem or the piano mover's problem) is a computational problem to find a sequence of valid configurations that moves the object from the source to destination. The term is used ...

is an important issue as it allows a robot to get from point A to point B. Path planning algorithms are measured by their computational complexity. The feasibility of real-time motion planning is dependent on the accuracy of the map (or

floorplan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to Scale (ratio), scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a struct ...

), on robot localization and on the number of obstacles. Topologically, the problem of path planning is related to the

shortest path problem In graph theory, the shortest path problem is the problem of finding a path between two vertices (or nodes) in a graph such that the sum of the weights of its constituent edges is minimized. The problem of finding the shortest path between t ...

of finding a route between two nodes in a graph.

Robot navigation

Outdoor robots can use GPS in a similar way to

automotive navigation system An automotive navigation system is part of the automobile controls or a third party add-on used to find direction in an automobile. It typically uses a satellite navigation device to get its position data which is then correlated to a position on ...

s. Alternative systems can be used with

and beacons instead of

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

s for indoor robots, combined with localization wireless hardware. Electric beacons can help for cheap robot navigational systems.

References