Distributed multi-robot localization from acoustic pulses using Euclidean distance geometry

Abstract

This paper presents a method for reconstructing relative positions of a group of robots from only acoustic pulses sent and received by the robots. The approach is fully distributed — each robot calculates relative positions from its measurements alone — and does not require any additional communication between the robots outside of the acoustic pulses. The method applies concepts from Euclidean distance geometry to label each robot's measurements, constructing first a set of relative distances and then a set of relative positions. We also implement two practical methods for aligning a robot's estimated set of relative positions in a global frame of reference. Due to the minimal sensing and communication requirements, this approach to multi-robot localization is appropriate for underwater applications and other environments in which traditional communication channels are limited, untrustworthy, or unavailable.