Automatic Navigation Map Generation for Mobile Robots in Urban Environments

TL;DR

This paper presents an algorithm that automatically generates accurate urban navigation maps for mobile robots using a single 3D LiDAR sensor, enhancing safety and efficiency in urban environments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for automatic map generation with limited sensors, validated in urban settings, improving deployment efficiency for mobile robots.

Findings

Produces accurate maps with terrain and obstacle details

Robust against localization and perception uncertainties

Validated against human-made maps in urban environments

Abstract

A fundamental prerequisite for safe and efficient navigation of mobile robots is the availability of reliable navigation maps upon which trajectories can be planned. With the increasing industrial interest in mobile robotics, especially in urban environments, the process of generating navigation maps has become of particular interest, being a labor intensive step of the deployment process. Automating this step is challenging and becomes even more arduous when the perception capabilities are limited by cost considerations. This paper proposes an algorithm to automatically generate navigation maps using a typical navigation-oriented sensor setup: a single top-mounted 3D LiDAR sensor. The proposed method is designed and validated with the urban environment as the main use case: it is shown to be able to produce accurate maps featuring different terrain types, positive obstacles of different heights as well as negative obstacles. The algorithm is applied to data collected in a typical urban environment with a wheeled inverted pendulum robot, showing its robustness against localization, perception and dynamic uncertainties. The generated map is validated against a human-made map.