Object-based modelling and localization in natural environments

Mobile robot navigation in natural environments requires incremental scene modelling and robot self-localization. These two capacities are discussed in this paper. A scene model is built with heterogeneous representations to match the diversity of the environment. We focus on object-based representations, using coarse models (ellipsoids) or volumic primitives (superquadrics), and their topological relations. The method for extracting the models from a range image to provide geometrical and topological representations, and the matching of successive views during the robot's movement are presented. For robot localization, two procedures are proposed based on the coarse or fine models. Experimental results are given.