Robust navigation using Markov models

To reach a given goal, a mobile robot first computes a motion plan (i.e. a sequence of actions that takes it to its goal), and then executes it. Markov decision processes (MDPs) have been successfully used to solve these two problems. Their main advantage is that they provide a theoretical framework to deal with the uncertainties related to the robot´s motor and perceptive actions during both planning and execution stages. While a previous paper addressed the motion planning stage, this paper deals with execution stage. It describes an approach based on Markov localization and focuses on experimental aspects, in particular, the learning of the transition function (that encodes the uncertainties related to the robot actions) and the sensor model. Experimental results carry out with a real robot demonstrate the robustness of the whole navigation approach.