MULTIPLE ROBOTS LOCALIZATION AND MAPPING USING OCCUPANCY GRID AND MOBILTY FACTOR

Localization and mapping is an issue of vital importance for the functioning of a mobile robot in the indoor application. It allows a mobile robot to safely navigate and perform tasks. In this paper we present an approach for localizing and mapping multiple robots/objects within the indoor environment. Each of these robots has an on- board PC and wireless communication facility to communicate with a centralized computing server. Wall mounted camera network, with capability to observe the work space, is connected with a computing server. Computing server localizes the robots/objects on 2-D ground plane which calculates the mobility factor occupancy value (OV) for grid cells. Occupancy grid based map is used for the environment description. Fuzzy rules are applied to strengthen the confidence of cell occupancy. OV grid based map limits the localization process to region of interest (ROI). The updated map is broadcasted. Camera calibration is performed offline. Robots of the environment update their positions and path planning based on the received map and the dead reckoning sensory feed back. The use of multiple camera system also helps in solving the occlusion problem