Robustness Evaluation of Localization Techniques for Autonomous Racing

This work introduces SynPF, an MCL-based algorithm tailored for high-speed racing environments. Benchmarked against Cartographer, a state-of-the-art pose-graph SLAM algorithm, SynPF leverages synergies from previous particle-filtering methods and synthesizes them for the high-performance racing do-main. Our extensive in-field evaluations reveal that while Cartogra-pher excels under nominal conditions, it struggles when subjected to wheel-slip-a common phenomenon in a racing scenario due to varying grip levels and aggressive driving behaviour. Conversely, SynPF demonstrates robustness in these challenging conditions and a low-latency computation time of 1.25 ms on on-board computers without a GPU. Using the FITENTH platform, a 1:10 scaled autonomous racing vehicle, this work not only highlights the vulnerabilities of existing algorithms in high-speed scenarios, tested up until
$7.6 \text{ms}^{-1}$
, but also emphasizes the potential of SynP F as a viable alternative, especially in deteriorating odometry conditions.