A Lightweight Navigation System for Mobile Robots

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a navigation system requiring very few computational resources, but still providing performance comparable with commonly used tools in the ROS universe. This lightweight navigation system is thus suitable for robots with low computational resources and provides interfaces for both ROS and NAOqi middlewares. We have successfully evaluated the software on different robots and in different situations, including SoftBank Pepper robot for RoboCup@Home SSPL competitions and on small home-made robots for RoboCup@Home Education workshops. The developed software is well documented and easy to understand. It is released open-source and as Debian package to facilitate ease of use, in particular for the young researchers participating in robotic competitions and for educational activities.