Harmonic Field-based Provable Exploration of 3D Indoor Environments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a safe, efficient, and provably convergent method for autonomous indoor exploration using harmonic potential fields, optimized with boundary element methods to handle complex 3D environments.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach combining harmonic potential fields with accelerated boundary element methods for safe and efficient 3D indoor exploration.

Findings

Validated through simulations demonstrating efficiency

Proven safety and convergence properties

Applicable to complex 3D indoor environments

Abstract

This work presents an safe and efficient methodology for autonomous indoor exploration with aerial robots using Harmonic Potential Fields (HPF). The challenge of applying HPF in complex 3D environments rests on high computational load involved in solving the Laplace equation. To address this issue, the proposed solution utilizes the Fast Multiple accelerated Boundary Element Method with boundary values controlled to ensure both safety and convergence. The methodology is validated through simulations, which demonstrate its properties of efficiency, safety and convergence.