Radar scan matching SLAM using the fourier-mellin transform

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) problem using data obtained from a microwave radar sensor. The radar scanner is based on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technology. In order to meet the needs of radar image analysis complexity, a trajectoryoriented EKF-SLAM technique using data from a 360◦ field of view radar sensor has been developed. This process makes no landmark assumptions and avoids the data association problem. The method of egomotion estimation makes use of the Fourier-Mellin Transform for registering radar images in a sequence, from which the rotation and translation of the sensor motion can be estimated. In the context of the scan-matching SLAM, the use of the Fourier-Mellin Transform is original and provides an accurate and efficient way of computing the rigid transformation between consecutive scans. Experimental results on real-world data are presented.