End-to-End Navigation in Unknown Environments using Neural Networks

We investigate how a neural network can learn perception actions loops for navigation in unknown environments. Specifically, we consider how to learn to navigate in environments populated with cul-de-sacs that represent convex local minima that the robot could fall into instead of finding a set of feasible actions that take it to the goal. Traditional methods rely on maintaining a global map to solve the problem of over coming a long cul-de-sac. However, due to errors induced from local and global drift, it is highly challenging to maintain such a map for long periods of time. One way to mitigate this problem is by using learning techniques that do not rely on hand engineered map representations and instead output appropriate control policies directly from their sensory input. We first demonstrate that such a problem cannot be solved directly by deep reinforcement learning due to the sparse reward structure of the environment. Further, we demonstrate that deep supervised learning also cannot be used directly to solve this problem. We then investigate network models that offer a combination of reinforcement learning and supervised learning and highlight the significance of adding fully differentiable memory units to such networks. We evaluate our networks on their ability to generalize to new environments and show that adding memory to such networks offers huge jumps in performanceComment: Workshop on Learning Perception and Control for Autonomous Flight: Safety, Memory and Efficiency, Robotics Science and Systems 201

Review, Classification and Comparison of the Existing SLAM Methods for Groups of Robots

Nowadays the promising line of research is an application of groups of mobile robots to various tasks. An effective SLAM algorithm is one of their main success factors. Due to the increasing popularity of the open-source robots framework, ROS, the best methods should be implemented on this platform. The development should be based on the theoretical research of the subject area. So, the paper is justified by this fact. Multi-robot SLAM methods have been classified according to their key features. Their advantages and disadvantages have been identified. The methods have also been compared according to the available experimental data. The methods most suitable for implementation have been selected

Simultaneous mobile sink allocation in home environments with applications in mobile consumer robotics

This paper presents a novel mobile sink area allocation scheme for consumer based mobile robotic devices with a proven application to robotic vacuum cleaners. In the home or office environment, rooms are physically separated by walls and an automated robotic cleaner cannot make a decision about which room to move to and perform the cleaning task. Likewise, state of the art cleaning robots do not move to other rooms without direct human interference. In a smart home monitoring system, sensor nodes may be deployed to monitor each separate room. In this work, a quad tree based data gathering scheme is proposed whereby the mobile sink physically moves through every room and logically links all separated sub-networks together. The proposed scheme sequentially collects data from the monitoring environment and transmits the information back to a base station. According to the sensor nodes information, the base station can command a cleaning robot to move to a specific location in the home environment. The quad tree based data gathering scheme minimizes the data gathering tour length and time through the efficient allocation of data gathering areas. A calculated shortest path data gathering tour can efficiently be allocated to the robotic cleaner to complete the cleaning task within a minimum time period. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can effectively allocate and control the cleaning area to the robot vacuum cleaner without any direct interference from the consumer. The performance of the proposed scheme is then validated with a set of practical sequential data gathering tours in a typical office/home environment

Communication-constrained multi-AUV cooperative SLAM

Multi-robot deployments have the potential for completing tasks more efficiently. For example, in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), robots can better localize themselves and the map if they can share measurements of each other (direct encounters) and of commonly observed parts of the map (indirect encounters). However, performance is contingent on the quality of the communications channel. In the underwater scenario, communicating over any appreciable distance is achieved using acoustics which is low-bandwidth, slow, and unreliable, making cooperative operations very challenging. In this paper, we present a framework for cooperative SLAM (C-SLAM) for multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) communicating only through acoustics. We develop a novel graph-based C-SLAM algorithm that is able to (optimally) generate communication packets whose size scales linearly with the number of observed features since the last successful transmission, constantly with the number of vehicles in the collective, and does not grow with time even the case of dropped packets, which are common. As a result, AUVs can bound their localization error without the need for pre-installed beacons or surfacing for GPS fixes during navigation, leading to significant reduction in time required to complete missions. The proposed algorithm is validated through realistic marine vehicle and acoustic communication simulations.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-13-1-0588)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award IIS-1318392)United States. Office of Naval Research Globa

Novel point-to-point scan matching algorithm based on cross-correlation

The localization of mobile robots in outdoor and indoor environments is a complex issue. Many sophisticated approaches, based on various types of sensory inputs and different computational concepts, are used to accomplish this task. However, many of the most efficient methods for mobile robot localization suffer from high computational costs and/or the need for high resolution sensory inputs. Scan cross-correlation is a traditional approach that can be, in special cases, used to match temporally aligned scans of robot environment. This work proposes a set of novel modifications to the cross-correlation method that extend its capability beyond these special cases to general scan matching and mitigate its computational costs so that it is usable in practical settings. The properties and validity of the proposed approach are in this study illustrated on a number of computational experiments.Web of Scienceart. ID 646394

Auto-localização e mapeamento de ambientes : uma abordagem para robôs simples

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade UnB Gama, 2017.Grande parte das pesquisas relacionadas à robótica é focada, principalmente, na mobilidade do robô. Isto ocorre pela necessidade, na maioria das atividades, da navegação e auto-localização no ambiente. Com este objetivo, a técnica de SLAM (Auto- localização e mapeamento simultâneos de ambientes) vem sendo implementada em diversos contextos por toda a comunidade de robótica. Esta pesquisa buscou analisar técnicas renomadas de auto-localização no contexto da robótica mundial, a partir da execução de uma revisão sistemática sobre o tema, selecionando a técnica do Filtro de Partículas para adaptação e implementação no contexto limitado da Robótica Educacional. Durante as etapas de implementação e análise dos resultados, a pesquisa busca documentar de maneira clara e objetiva os procedimentos realizados, garantindo a possibilidade da execução dos procedimentos por interessados no assunto. Além da aplicação no contexto educacional, deve-se ressaltar que esta pesquisa faz referência a utilização de robôs simples no processo de auto-localização, o que abrange sua utilização também em contextos reais, porém com limitações de hardware.This research sought to analyse renowned techniques of auto localization in the context of the current world of robotics, starting from the execution of a sistematic revision about the theme, selecting the Particle Filter to the adaptation and implementation in the limited context of Educational Robotics. During the steps of the analysis of results, the research sought to document clearly and objectively the proceedings, ensuring the possibility of the execution of them by the interested researchers in the theme. Besides the application on the educational context, it must be emphasized that this search makes reference to the utilization of simple robots on the auto localization process, which also includes its utilization on real contexts, with hardware limitations, however

SLAM multi-agente distribuito e decentralizzato per l'esplorazione coordinata di ambienti indoor

Lo sviluppo della robotica ha portato ad avere robot autonomi che devono svolgere svariati tipi di compiti interagendo e navigando all'interno dell'ambiente che li circonda. Spesso, per poter portare a termine questi compiti, un robot autonomo ha bisogno di generare una mappa dell'ambiente circostante e di determinare la sua posizione relativa rispetto alla mappa stessa. Lo SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) è il processo che ha come obiettivo quello di localizzare un agente mobile e autonomo in un ambiente sconosciuto, costruendo allo stesso stempo una mappa incrementale di quest'ultimo. I due problemi sono quindi strettamente correlati e l'interdipendenza della localizzazione con la costruzione della mappa, rende il problema complesso. L'utilizzo di squadre di robot che necessitano di creare una mappa dell'ambiente, può portare a dei notevoli miglioramenti nel tempo totale di esplorazione. Nello SLAM multi-agente, i robot devono utilizzare tutti i dati disponibili per costruire una unica mappa globale e coerente per poter effettuare una localizzazione corretta. La possibilità di avere un sistema decentralizzato e distribuito permette poi di avere anche una maggiore robustezza in caso di guasti a qualsiasi agente. Questi benefici si pagano con una maggiore complessità del sistema, che richiede coordinazione e cooperazione fra i robot. In questo lavoro è stato sviluppato un sistema di SLAM multi-agente decentralizzato e distribuito tramite l'utilizzo di ROS (Robot Operating System). E' stato innanzitutto effettuato uno studio dello stato dell'arte per analizzare le metologie presenti in letteratura e proporre soluzioni innovative. In particolare si è affrontato il problema delle pose relative fra i veicoli nel caso queste non fossero note a priori. E' stato proposto un metodo che permette di ricavare le pose relative ed inoltre consente agli agenti di costruire una mappa globale e cooperare nell'esplorazione

Automatisierte Integration von funkbasierten Sensornetzen auf Basis simultaner Lokalisierung und Kartenerstellung

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Entwicklung eines Verfahrens zur automatisierten Integration funkbasierter drahtloser Sensornetze (engl. Wireless Sensor Network, kurz WSN) in die jeweilige Anwendungsumgebung. Die Sensornetze realisieren dort neben Kommunikationsaufgaben vor allem die Bestimmung von Ortsinformationen. Das Betriebshofmanagement im ÖPNV stellt dabei eine typische Anwendung dar. So wird auf der Grundlage permanent verfügbarer Positionskoordinaten von Bussen und Bahnen als mobile Objekte im Verkehrsumfeld eine effizientere Betriebsführung ermöglicht. Die Datenbasis in dieser Arbeit bilden zum einen geometrische Beziehungen im Sensornetz, die aus Gründen der Verfügbarkeit lediglich durch paarweise Distanzen zwischen den mobilen Objekten und den im Umfeld fest installierten Ankern beschrieben sind. Zum anderen kann auf vorhandenes digitales Kartenmaterial in Form von Vektor- und Rasterkarten bspw. von GIS-Diensten zurückgegriffen werden. Die Argumente für eine Automatisierung sind naheliegend. Einerseits soll der Aufwand der Positionskalibrierung nicht mit der Anzahl verbauter Anker skalieren, was sich ausschließlich automatisiert realisieren lässt. Dadurch werden gleichzeitig symptomatische Fehlerquellen, die aus einer manuellen Systemintegration resultieren, eliminiert. Andererseits soll die Automatisierung ein echtzeitfähiges Betreiben (z.B. Rekalibrierung und Fernwartung) gewährleisten, sodass kostenintensive Wartungs- und Servicedienstleistungen entfallen. Das entwickelte Verfahren generiert zunächst aus den Sensordaten mittels distanzbasierter simultaner Lokalisierung und Kartenerstellung (engl. Range-Only Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, kurz RO-SLAM) relative Positionsinformationen für Anker und mobile Objekte. Anschließend führt das Verfahren diese Informationen im Rahmen einer kooperativen Kartenerstellung zusammen. Aus den relativen, kooperativen Ergebnissen und dem zugrundeliegenden Kartenmaterial wird schließlich ein anwendungsspezifischer absoluter Raumbezug hergestellt. Die Ergebnisse der durchgeführten Verfahrensevaluation belegen anhand generierter semi-realer Sensordaten sowie definierter Testszenarien die Funktions- und Leistungsfähigkeit des entwickelten Verfahrens. Sie beinhalten qualifizierende Aussagen und zeigen darüber hinaus statistisch belastbare Genauigkeitsgrenzen auf.:Abbildungsverzeichnis...............................................X Tabellenverzeichnis...............................................XII Abkürzungsverzeichnis............................................XIII Symbolverzeichnis................................................XVII 1 Einleitung........................................................1 1.1 Stand der Technik...............................................3 1.2 Entwickeltes Verfahren im Überblick.............................4 1.3 Wissenschaftlicher Beitrag......................................7 1.4 Gliederung der Arbeit...........................................8 2 Grundlagen zur Verfahrensumsetzung...............................10 2.1 Überblick zu funkbasierten Sensornetzen........................10 2.1.1 Aufbau und Netzwerk..........................................11 2.1.2 System- und Technologiemerkmale..............................12 2.1.3 Selbstorganisation...........................................13 2.1.4 Räumliche Beziehungen........................................14 2.2 Umgebungsrepräsentation........................................18 2.2.1 Koordinatenbeschreibung......................................19 2.2.2 Kartentypen..................................................20 2.3 Lokalisierung..................................................22 2.3.1 Positionierung...............................................23 2.3.2 Tracking.....................................................28 2.3.3 Koordinatentransformation....................................29 3 Zustandsschätzung dynamischer Systeme............................37 3.1 Probabilistischer Ansatz.......................................38 3.1.1 Satz von Bayes...............................................39 3.1.2 Markov-Kette.................................................40 3.1.3 Hidden Markov Model..........................................42 3.1.4 Dynamische Bayes‘sche Netze..................................43 3.2 Bayes-Filter...................................................45 3.2.1 Extended Kalman-Filter.......................................48 3.2.2 Histogramm-Filter............................................51 3.2.3 Partikel-Filter..............................................52 3.3 Markov Lokalisierung...........................................58 4 Simultane Lokalisierung und Kartenerstellung.....................61 4.1 Überblick......................................................62 4.1.1 Objektbeschreibung...........................................63 4.1.2 Umgebungskarte...............................................65 4.1.3 Schließen von Schleifen......................................70 4.2 Numerische Darstellung.........................................72 4.2.1 Formulierung als Bayes-Filter................................72 4.2.2 Diskretisierung des Zustandsraums............................74 4.2.3 Verwendung von Hypothesen....................................74 4.3 Initialisierung des Range-Only SLAM............................75 4.3.1 Verzögerte und unverzögerte Initialisierung..................75 4.3.2 Initialisierungsansätze......................................76 4.4 SLAM-Verfahren.................................................80 4.4.1 Extended Kalman-Filter-SLAM..................................81 4.4.2 Incremental Maximum Likelihood-SLAM..........................90 4.4.3 FastSLAM.....................................................99 5 Kooperative Kartenerstellung....................................107 5.1 Aufbereitung der Ankerkartierungsergebnisse...................108 5.2 Ankerkarten-Merging-Verfahren.................................110 5.2.1 Auflösen von Mehrdeutigkeiten...............................110 5.2.2 Erstellung einer gemeinsamen Ankerkarte.....................115 6 Herstellung eines absoluten Raumbezugs..........................117 6.1 Aufbereitung der Lokalisierungsergebnisse.....................117 6.1.1 Generierung von Geraden.....................................119 6.1.2 Generierung eines Graphen...................................122 6.2 Daten-Matching-Verfahren......................................123 6.2.1 Vektorbasierte Karteninformationen..........................125 6.2.2 Rasterbasierte Karteninformationen..........................129 7 Verfahrensevaluation............................................133 7.1 Methodischer Ansatz...........................................133 7.2 Datenbasis....................................................135 7.2.1 Sensordaten.................................................137 7.2.2 Digitales Kartenmaterial....................................143 7.3 Definition von Testszenarien..................................145 7.4 Bewertung.....................................................147 7.4.1 SLAM-Verfahren..............................................148 7.4.2 Ankerkarten-Merging-Verfahren...............................151 7.4.3 Daten-Matching-Verfahren....................................152 8 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick....................................163 8.1 Ergebnisse der Arbeit.........................................164 8.2 Ausblick......................................................165 Literaturverzeichnis..............................................166 A Ergänzungen zum entwickelten Verfahren..........................A-1 A.1 Generierung von Bewegungsinformationen........................A-1 A.2 Erweiterung des FastSLAM-Verfahrens...........................A-2 A.3 Ablauf des konzipierten Greedy-Algorithmus....................A-4 A.4 Lagewinkel der Kanten in einer Rastergrafik...................A-5 B Ergänzungen zur Verfahrensevaluation............................A-9 B.1 Geschwindigkeitsprofile der simulierten Objekttrajektorien....A-9 B.2 Gesamtes SLAM-Ergebnis eines Testszenarios....................A-9 B.3 Statistische Repräsentativität...............................A-10 B.4 Gesamtes Ankerkarten-Merging-Ergebnis eines Testszenarios....A-11 B.5 Gesamtes Daten-Matching-Ergebnis eines Testszenarios.........A-18 B.6 Qualitative Ergebnisbewertung................................A-18 B.7 Divergenz des Gesamtverfahrens...............................A-18The aim of this work is the development of a method for the automated integration of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) into the respective application environment. The sensor networks realize there beside communication tasks above all the determination of location information. Therefore, the depot management in public transport is a typical application. Based on permanently available position coordinates of buses and trams as mobile objects in the traffic environment, a more efficient operational management is made possible. The database in this work is formed on the one hand by geometric relationships in the sensor network, which for reasons of availability are only described by pairwise distances between the mobile objects and the anchors permanently installed in the environment. On the other hand, existing digital map material in the form of vector and raster maps, e.g. obtained by GIS services, is used. The arguments for automation are obvious. First, the effort of position calibration should not scale with the number of anchors installed, which can only be automated. This at once eliminates symptomatic sources of error resulting from manual system integration. Secondly, automation should ensure real-time operation (e.g. recalibration and remote maintenance), eliminating costly maintenance and service. Initially, the developed method estimates relative position information for anchors and mobile objects from the sensor data by means of Range-Only Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (RO-SLAM). The method then merges this information within a cooperative map creation. From the relative, cooperative results and the available map material finally an application-specific absolute spatial outcome is generated. Based on semi-real sensor data and defined test scenarios, the results of the realized method evaluation demonstrate the functionality and performance of the developed method. They contain qualifying statements and also show statistically reliable limits of accuracy.:Abbildungsverzeichnis...............................................X Tabellenverzeichnis...............................................XII Abkürzungsverzeichnis............................................XIII Symbolverzeichnis................................................XVII 1 Einleitung........................................................1 1.1 Stand der Technik...............................................3 1.2 Entwickeltes Verfahren im Überblick.............................4 1.3 Wissenschaftlicher Beitrag......................................7 1.4 Gliederung der Arbeit...........................................8 2 Grundlagen zur Verfahrensumsetzung...............................10 2.1 Überblick zu funkbasierten Sensornetzen........................10 2.1.1 Aufbau und Netzwerk..........................................11 2.1.2 System- und Technologiemerkmale..............................12 2.1.3 Selbstorganisation...........................................13 2.1.4 Räumliche Beziehungen........................................14 2.2 Umgebungsrepräsentation........................................18 2.2.1 Koordinatenbeschreibung......................................19 2.2.2 Kartentypen..................................................20 2.3 Lokalisierung..................................................22 2.3.1 Positionierung...............................................23 2.3.2 Tracking.....................................................28 2.3.3 Koordinatentransformation....................................29 3 Zustandsschätzung dynamischer Systeme............................37 3.1 Probabilistischer Ansatz.......................................38 3.1.1 Satz von Bayes...............................................39 3.1.2 Markov-Kette.................................................40 3.1.3 Hidden Markov Model..........................................42 3.1.4 Dynamische Bayes‘sche Netze..................................43 3.2 Bayes-Filter...................................................45 3.2.1 Extended Kalman-Filter.......................................48 3.2.2 Histogramm-Filter............................................51 3.2.3 Partikel-Filter..............................................52 3.3 Markov Lokalisierung...........................................58 4 Simultane Lokalisierung und Kartenerstellung.....................61 4.1 Überblick......................................................62 4.1.1 Objektbeschreibung...........................................63 4.1.2 Umgebungskarte...............................................65 4.1.3 Schließen von Schleifen......................................70 4.2 Numerische Darstellung.........................................72 4.2.1 Formulierung als Bayes-Filter................................72 4.2.2 Diskretisierung des Zustandsraums............................74 4.2.3 Verwendung von Hypothesen....................................74 4.3 Initialisierung des Range-Only SLAM............................75 4.3.1 Verzögerte und unverzögerte Initialisierung..................75 4.3.2 Initialisierungsansätze......................................76 4.4 SLAM-Verfahren.................................................80 4.4.1 Extended Kalman-Filter-SLAM..................................81 4.4.2 Incremental Maximum Likelihood-SLAM..........................90 4.4.3 FastSLAM.....................................................99 5 Kooperative Kartenerstellung....................................107 5.1 Aufbereitung der Ankerkartierungsergebnisse...................108 5.2 Ankerkarten-Merging-Verfahren.................................110 5.2.1 Auflösen von Mehrdeutigkeiten...............................110 5.2.2 Erstellung einer gemeinsamen Ankerkarte.....................115 6 Herstellung eines absoluten Raumbezugs..........................117 6.1 Aufbereitung der Lokalisierungsergebnisse.....................117 6.1.1 Generierung von Geraden.....................................119 6.1.2 Generierung eines Graphen...................................122 6.2 Daten-Matching-Verfahren......................................123 6.2.1 Vektorbasierte Karteninformationen..........................125 6.2.2 Rasterbasierte Karteninformationen..........................129 7 Verfahrensevaluation............................................133 7.1 Methodischer Ansatz...........................................133 7.2 Datenbasis....................................................135 7.2.1 Sensordaten.................................................137 7.2.2 Digitales Kartenmaterial....................................143 7.3 Definition von Testszenarien..................................145 7.4 Bewertung.....................................................147 7.4.1 SLAM-Verfahren..............................................148 7.4.2 Ankerkarten-Merging-Verfahren...............................151 7.4.3 Daten-Matching-Verfahren....................................152 8 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick....................................163 8.1 Ergebnisse der Arbeit.........................................164 8.2 Ausblick......................................................165 Literaturverzeichnis..............................................166 A Ergänzungen zum entwickelten Verfahren..........................A-1 A.1 Generierung von Bewegungsinformationen........................A-1 A.2 Erweiterung des FastSLAM-Verfahrens...........................A-2 A.3 Ablauf des konzipierten Greedy-Algorithmus....................A-4 A.4 Lagewinkel der Kanten in einer Rastergrafik...................A-5 B Ergänzungen zur Verfahrensevaluation............................A-9 B.1 Geschwindigkeitsprofile der simulierten Objekttrajektorien....A-9 B.2 Gesamtes SLAM-Ergebnis eines Testszenarios....................A-9 B.3 Statistische Repräsentativität...............................A-10 B.4 Gesamtes Ankerkarten-Merging-Ergebnis eines Testszenarios....A-11 B.5 Gesamtes Daten-Matching-Ergebnis eines Testszenarios.........A-18 B.6 Qualitative Ergebnisbewertung................................A-18 B.7 Divergenz des Gesamtverfahrens...............................A-1