A BIM and UWB integrated Mobile Robot Navigation System for Indoor Position Tracking Applications

Abstract

This research presents the development of a self-governing mobile robot navigation system for indoor construction applications. This self-governing robot navigation system integrated robot control units, various positioning techniques including a dead-reckoning system, a UWB platform and motion sensors, with a BIM path planner solution. Various algorithms and error correction methods have been tested for all the employed sensors and other components to improve the positioning and navigation capability of the system. The research demonstrated that the path planner utilizing a BIM model as a navigation site map could effectively extract an efficient path for the robot, and could be executed in a real-time application for construction environments. Several navigation strategies with a mobile robot were tested with various combinations of localization sensors including wheel encoders, sonar/infrared/thermal proximity sensors, motion sensors, a digital compass, and UWB. The system successfully demonstrated the ability to plan an efficient path for robot's movement and properly navigate through the planned path to reach the specified destination in a complex indoor construction site. The findings can be adopted to several potential construction or manufacturing applications such as robotic material delivery, inspection, and onsite security.