Efficiently learning high-dimensional observation models for Monte-Carlo localization using Gaussian mixtures

Whereas probabilistic approaches are a powerful tool for mobile robot localization, they heavily rely on the proper definition of the so-called observation model which defines the likelihood of an observation given the position and orientation of the robot and the map of the environment. Most of the sensor models for range sensors proposed in the past either consider the individual beam measurements independently or apply uni-modal models to represent the likelihood function. In this paper, we present an approach that learns place-dependent sensor models for entire range scans using Gaussian mixture models. To deal with the high dimensionality of the measurement space, we utilize principle component analysis for dimensionality reduction. In practical experiments carried out with data obtained from a real robot, we demonstrate that our model substantially outperforms existing and popular sensor models.