Human augmented mapping for indoor environments using a stereo camera

In this paper, we suggest a new method of human augmented mapping for indoor environments using only a stereo camera. Through user's help, a robot with a stereo camera can investigate the environment without failure and even more efficiently. Moreover, the user can share the information about the environment with the robot and add semantic information to the environmental map. We employ PCA features for visual landmarks and a hybrid map for map representation. Particularly, we define two types of nodes, U/R-nodes and divide the map building into three processes, User's Guidance, Robot's Map Revision, and Robot's Map Completion. We implemented a human augmented mapping system with a stereo camera and demonstrated it in rectangular-shaped corridors. From the comparison with a manually-built map, we showed the feasibility of the environmental map generated by our proposed method.