Multi-robot map updating in dynamic environments

Abstract

Multi-robot systems play an important role in many robotic applications. A prerequisite for a team of robots is the capability of building and maintaining updated maps of the environment. The simultaneous estimation of the trajectory and the map of the environment (known as SLAM) requires many computational resources. Moreover, SLAM is generally performed in environments that do not vary over time (called static environments), whereas real applications commonly require navigation services in dynamic environments. This paper focuses on long term mapping operativity in presence of variations in the map, as in the case of robotic applications in logistic spaces, where rovers have to track the presence of goods in given areas. In this context classical SLAM approaches are generally not directly applicable, since they usually apply in static environments or in dynamic environments where it is possible to model the environment dynamics. This paper proposes a methodology that allows the robots to detect variations in the environment, generate maps containing only the persistent variations, propagate thiem to the team and finally merge the received information in a consistent way. The team of robots is also exploited to assure the coverage of areas not visited for long time, thus improving the knowledge on the present status of the map. The map updating process is demonstrated to be computationally light, in order to be performed in parallel with other tasks (e.g., team coordination and planning, surveillance). © 2013 Springer-Verlag.