3D mapping for urban service robots

We present an approach to the problem of 3D map building in urban settings for service robots, using three-dimensional laser range scans as the main data input. Our system is based on the probabilistic alignment of 3D point clouds employing a delayed-state information-form SLAM algorithm, for which we can add observations of relative robot displacements efficiently. These observations come from the alignment of dense range data point clouds computed with a variant of the iterative closest point algorithm. The datasets were acquired with our custom built 3D range scanner integrated into a mobile robot platform. Our mapping results are compared to a GIS-based CAD model of the experimental site. The results show that our approach to 3D mapping performs with sufficient accuracy to derive traversability maps that allow our service robots navigate and accomplish their assigned tasks on a urban pedestrian area.