Landmark Placement for Localization in a GPS-denied Environment

TL;DR

This paper addresses the challenge of vehicle localization in GPS-denied environments by optimizing the placement of stationary landmarks to ensure effective localization, sensing, and collision avoidance.

Contribution

It formulates a landmark placement problem and proposes algorithms to minimize the number of landmarks needed for reliable localization under constraints.

Findings

Algorithms effectively reduce the number of landmarks needed.

Simulation results demonstrate improved localization accuracy.

Approach is applicable to ground robots in GPS-denied scenarios.

Abstract

Path planning algorithms for unmanned aerial or ground vehicles, in many surveillance applications, rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) information for localization. However, disruption of GPS signals, by intention or otherwise, can render these plans and algorithms ineffective. This article provides a way of addressing this issue by utilizing stationary landmarks to aid localization in such GPS-disrupted or GPS-denied environment. In particular, given the vehicle's path, we formulate a landmark-placement problem and present algorithms to place the minimum number of landmarks while satisfying the localization, sensing, and collision-avoidance constraints. The performance of such a placement is also evaluated via extensive simulations on ground robots.