GIS map based mobile robot navigation in urban environments

Mobile robots need information about its spatial environment to solve any task in a robust, reliable and continuous form. This is usually encoded in a so-called map. We propose the use of a standard, human-readable existing GIS map for robot navigation in urban scenarios. A centralized GIS map server architecture is presented to which a robot or team of robots can connect by using a developed communication protocol. The system is scalable to large environments and large groups of robots. Furthermore it demonstrates the possibility for a robot to accurately navigate by using an already existing map which has not been constructed using the robot own sensors. Details of the implemented system architecture as well as a position tracking experiment in a real outdoor environment, a University Campus, are provided.