An optimized solution for mobile robot navigation for dynamic office environments using active simultaneous localization and mapping

Abstract

It is a very tedious process to develop a methodology for indoor navigation of mobile robots when it comes to environments with dynamic obstacles. So the objective of this research is to find an optimal solution for mobile robot navigation in indoor environments, specifically in an office environment. Instead of traditional line following methods, here an application with fully autonomous navigation plan with active Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) techniques is presented. Proper localization, mapping techniques and a location identification method using April tags or labels embedded in the generated map can be used. The research was conducted by using affordable equipment such as wheel encoders, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and a low cost Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor and have used Robot Operating System (ROS) as a tool to implement the solution.