This paper presents a novel approach to mobile robot localization using sonar sensors. This approach is based on the use of particle filters. Each particle is augmented with local environment information which is updated during the mission execution. An experimental characterization of the sonar sensors used is provided in the paper. A probabilistic measurement model that takes into account the...

This paper addresses the problem of mapping the features of a gas distribution by creating concentration gridmaps from the data collected by a mobile robot equipped with an electronic nose. By contrast to metric gridmaps extracted from sonar or laser range scans, a single measurement of the electronic nose provides information about a comparatively small area. To overcome this problem, a mappin...

In this paper, we show how linguistic expressions can be generated to describe the spatial relations between a mobile robot and its environment, using readings from a ring of sonar sensors. Our work is motivated by the study of human-robot communication for non-expert users. The eventual goal is to use these linguistic expressions for navigation of the mobile robot in an unknown environment, wh...

This paper describes a new method for determining range information about a robot's surroundings using low resolution ultrasonic sensors. These sensors emit ultra-sound which bounces oo of nearby objects and returns to the sensor. The time-of-ight for the sound to return to the sensor is the distance between the sensor and the object. A sonar arc represents the possible locations of the object....

Given the limited range and applicability of visual imaging systems in the underwater environment, sonar has been the preferred solution for the observation of the seabed since its inception in the 1950s (Blondel 2002). The images produced by the most commonly used side-looking sonars (side-scan and, more recently, synthetic aperture sonars) contain information on the backscatter strength recor...

The long term goals are to (1) understand the role of wave-induced bubbles in the upper ocean boundary layer on the performance of underwater communications systems and ambient noise generation, (2) study the implications of focusing by surface gravity waves on Doppler sonar and acoustic communications systems in shallow and very shallow water, and (3) study the performance of acoustic vector s...

One of the authors is involved with the Robot Simulator project at Kansas State University. While running experiments to compare scaling issues between cooperative algorithms and swarm algorithms using a simple search and tag problem, it was noticed that in some configurations, the number of targets found decreased when the number of targets was increased [Gu04]. Increasing the number of robots...

A sonar-based mapping and navigation system developed for an autonomous mobile robot operating in unknown and unstructured environments is described. The system uses sonar range data to build a multileveled description of the robot’s surroundings. Sonar readings are interpreted using probability profiles to determine empty and occupied areas. Range measurements from multiple points of view are ...

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) has been one of the active research areas in robotic community for the past decade of years. SLAM addresses the problem of a robot navigating and building a map of an unknown environment, without an initial map or an absolute localization means. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the SLAM problem. Successful SLAM implementatio...

This paper describes a mobile robot equipped with a sonar sensor array in a guided feature based map building task in an indoor environment. The landmarks common to indoor environments are planes, corners and edges, and these are located and classified with the sonar sensor array. The map building process makes use of accurate odometry information that is derived from a pair of knife edged unlo...