<title>Qualitative navigation using isolated landmarks</title>

Abstract

In this paper we propose and demonstrate a simple method for navigation in a large unstructured environment that contains featureless objects, using 'isolated' landmarks in the navigator's view. The map-maker and the navigator are implemented using an IBM 7575 SCARA robot arm, PIPE (Pipelined Image Processing Engine), and two cameras. The navigational environment consists of a flat plane with spherical objects populated randomly on it. First, the map-maker model observes the environment, and given a starting position and a goal position, it generates a 'custom map' that describes how to get from the starting position to the goal position. The accuracy and the efficiency of the directional instructions are then demonstrated by the navigator by following the commands in the custom map. This is a first step towards our eventual goal, which is to develop a full set of vocabulary that can qualitatively describe the navigational environment to guide the navigator with efficiency and accuracy.