Three-Dimensional Navigation with Scanning Ladars: Concept & Initial Verification

This paper investigates the use of scanning laser radars (LADARs) for 3D navigation of autonomous vehicles in structured environments such as outdoor urban navigation scenarios. The navigation solution (position and orientation) is determined in unknown environments where no a priori map information is available. The navigation is based on the use of planar surfaces (planes) extracted from LADAR scan images. Changes in plane parameters between scans are applied to compute position and orientation changes. Feasibility of the algorithms developed is verified using simulation results and initial results of live data tests.