An Open-Source Rotating Device for Relative Localization in Multi-Agent Systems

This paper presents an open-source one-degree-of-freedom rotating device for multi-robot systems. The function of the device is to facilitate mutual, precise localization of robots in a group, using a limited number of sensors. The device can be mounted on the robot but also plays the role of a static observer and landmark if placed in the workspace. The presented approach can be used alongside a variety of control algorithms for teams of mobile robots. Each rotating device has 10 ArUco markers pasted on it. The aim of the rotating device is to determine the pose of another device in the environment. The mechanical design, electrical circuit, and source codes are uploaded on the web sites that provide other researchers with an easy way to replicate the solution. The authors have mentioned two types of controllers to track the ArUco markers on other rotating devices. One controller is Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) and the other one is a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used to filter the data from ArUco marker detection and to calculate the optimized pose of another device in the environment. The Robot Operating System (ROS) is used to perform the experiments and to connect the rotating device with different controllers.