Posture estimation and tracking of an autonomous mobile robot using a laser scanner with retro‐reflectors

Abstract

This paper develops methodologies and techniques for posture estimation and tracking of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) using a laser scanner with at least three retro‐reflectors. A novel three‐point triangulation method using the laser scanner is presented to find an initial posture of the robot and then an extended information filtering (EIF) method is used to improve the accuracy of the robot's posture estimation. The sensitivity to measurement errors with respect to different reflector arrangements is investigated as well. With the odometric information from the driving wheels, an EIF‐based posture tracking algorithm is proposed to continuously keep track of the robot's posture at slow speeds. Simulation and experimental results are compared to show the efficacy and usefulness of the proposed method. The proposed method can be applied to several mobile robots navigating over flat terrain in the areas of manufacturing factories, offices, hospitals, homes and etc.