Abstract

Currently, the 3000+ robotic systems fielded in theater are entirely teleoperated. This constant dependence on operator control introduces several problems, including a large cognitive load on the operator and a limited ability for the operator to maintain an appropriate level of situational awareness of his surroundings. One solution to reduce the dependence on teleoperation is to develop autonomous behaviors for the robot to reduce the strain on the operator. We consider mapping and navigation to be fundamental to the development of useful field autonomy for small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGVs). To this end, we have developed baseline autonomous capabilities for our SUGV platforms, making use of the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS) software from Willow Garage, Inc. Their implementations of mapping and navigation are drawn from the most successful published academic algorithms in robotics. In this paper, we describe how we bridged our previous work with the Packbot Explorer to incorporate a new processing payload, new sensors, and the ROS system configured to perform the high-level autonomy tasks of mapping and waypoint navigation. We document our most successful parameter selection for the ROS navigation software in an indoor environment and present results of a mapping experiment.

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