A MOBILE ROBOT MAPPING SYSTEM WITH AN INFORMATION-BASED EXPLORATION STRATEGY

Abstract

The availability of efficient mapping systems to produce accurate representations of initially unknown environments is undoubtedly one of the main requirements for autonomous mobile robots. This paper presents a mapping system that has been implemented on a mobile robot equipped with a laser range scanner. The system builds geometrical maps of the environment employing an exploration strategy that takes into account both the distance travelled and the information gathered to determining the observation positions. This strategy is based on stronger mathematical foundations than the exploration strategies proposed in literature: this is the distinctive feature of our approach and constitutes the main original contribution of this paper.