Planar map and 3D model construction using a mobile robot

Abstract

Building the planar map and a 3D model of the environment is a fundamental task for a mobile robot that , using several and properly configured equipments and appropriate software modules, can reach these goals with high precision and in an automatic way. Such capability can increase the efficiency and the quality of 3D reconstruction not only in challenging environments (caves, mines,...) but also in reverse engineering in construction, useful also for monitoring and maintenance applications. An experimental session has been performed in corridor of the ISSIA-CNR institute. The mobile vehicle used is composed by a mobile robotic platform equipped with a laser range finder, sonar sensors, a video camera, inclinometers, a compass and an antenna for the wireless communication between the robot and a remote computer. Using all these devices, and suitably integrated software modules, by navigating in the laboratory it is possible to obtain two-dimensional planar reconstruction of the site and to recover the 3D structure of some zones of particular interest.