Mobile robot exploration in indoor environment using topological structure with invisible barcodes

Abstract

This paper addresses the localization and navigation problem in the movement of service robots by using invisible two dimensional barcodes on the floor. Compared with other methods using natural or artificial landmarks, the proposed localization method has great advantages in cost and appearance since the location of the robot is perfectly known using the barcode information after mapping is finished. We also propose a navigation algorithm which uses a topological structure. For the topological information, we define nodes and edges which are suitable for indoor navigation, especially for large area having multiple rooms, many walls, and many static obstacles. The proposed algorithm also has the advantage that errors which occur in each node are mutually independent and can be compensated exactly after some navigation using barcodes. Simulation and experimental results were performed to verify the algorithm in the barcode environment, showing excellent performance results. After mapping, it is also possible to solve the kidnapped robot problem and to generate paths using topological information.