Design of a sensor model and semi-global localization of a mobile service robot

A mobile robot localization problem can be classified into three key issues: a sensor model, a motion model and a fusion/filtering technique. So far, we have developed range sensor based, integrated localization scheme, which can be used in human-coexisting real environment such as a science museum and office buildings. From those experiences, we found out that there are several significant issues to solve practical localization problems. In this paper, we focus on three key issues, and then illustrate our solutions to the presented problems. Three issues are listed as follows: (1) investigation of design requirements of a desirable sensor model, and performance analysis of our design, (2) performance evaluation of the localization result by computing the matching error, (3) the semi-global localization scheme to deal with localization failure due to abrupt wheel slippage. In this paper, we show the significance of each concept, developed solutions and the experimental results. Experiments were carried out in a typical modern building environment, and the results clearly show that the proposed solutions are useful to develop practical, integrated localization schemes