Feature Localization Using Kinematics and Impulsive Hybrid Optimization

This paper focuses on detecting and localizing a surface feature on an otherwise uniform surface using kinematic data collected during an exploratory procedure. Assuming that characteristics of the feature shape and surface shape are known, a surface feature is detected by performing least squares estimation calculated via impulsive hybrid system optimization. The optimization routine is based on an adjoint formulation which allows the algorithm to be computationally efficient and scalable. This algorithm is also shown to perform well with the presence of measurement noise and model noise, both in simulations and experiments.