Sensor Fusion Techniques in Navigation Application for Mobile Robot

Generally, the mobile robots are researched and used in many applications. The fundamental method of navigation is localization, which includes aspects such as sensing, mapping, localization, planning and control. In order to we build the navigation system for mobile robot operating in unmodified environments, we must know the mobile robot’s position in reference frame. Typically reference frame is a Cartesian or we can specify the landmark as reference position. The dead reckoning based on odometry is widely to identify and classify landmarks. Dead reckoning systems estimate the position of the mobile robot with respect to an initial point by measuring linear and angular velocities or accelerations. There are also hybrid models, which have sensor systems of both dead reckoning and landmark recognition. Dead reckoning is the estimate of current position based on a previously determined position or estimated speeds from a known past position over time. This can also determine the future position by projecting an ordered course and speed of advance from a known present position. A disadvantage of dead reckoning is that new positions are calculated solely from previous positions. The errors of the process are cumulative, so the error in the position fix grows with time (Hans-Joachim von der Hardt & Didier Wolf Rene Husson, 1996; Hye Ri Park et al., 2009). Odometry is widely used in mobile robots to estimate their position relative to reference frame. This method estimates the position over time with errors accumulation due to the integration of velocity measurements (Cristina Tar in Sauer and Hermann Brugger, 2001; Houshangi, N. and Azizi, F., 2006; Agostino Martinelli, 2002). The navigation system for mobile robot based on odometry has typically problem with inaccuracy. Because of the odometry problems navigation systems for mobile robot application cannot work solely on dead reckoning. This is the reason that the navigation system needs the addition of sensory information. Additional sensors can be defined as information provided to assist the accomplishment of a task by a system. Practically, sensor fusion refers to the integration process where the different sources of sensory information are combined into one representational format. Typically in navigation systems sensory information can be fused from complementary sensors, redundant sensors or even from a single sensor over a period of time. The advantage of sensory fusion provides uncertainty and noise reduction, failure toleration and extended flexibility of sensor ability.