Using visual features to build topological maps of indoor environments

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of localization and map construction by a mobile robot in an indoor environment. Instead of trying to build high-fidelity geometric maps, we focus on constructing topological maps, as they are lees sensitive to poor odometry estimates and position errors. We propose a method for incrementally building topological maps for a robot, which uses a panoramic camera to obtain images at various locations along its path and uses the features it tracks in the images to update the topological map. The method is very general and does not require the environment to have uniquely distinctive features.