Improving Indoor Localization: A Low-Cost, Multi-Marker and Multi-Camera System for Robot Tracking

Localization is a fundamental requirement for a wide range of robotic applications, but existing systems often require complex, resource-intensive and costly setups. We propose a cost-effective localization system that integrates multiple fiducial markers and multiple cameras for enhancing both pose estimation accuracy, detection range and frequency while reducing costs and providing camera placement flexibility. Our system reduces position RMSE from 13.45 to 3.6 centimeters (73% improvement) and can achieve 100% detection coverage while leveraging 3 to 5 cameras instead of 10, no IMU or odometry compared to our previous single-marker multi-camera system, MoCArU. When tested at different camera heights, our system outperforms the previous one in all evaluated conditions. It also increases the frequency of estimates, as determined by a qualitative analysis. Additionally, we evaluate various pose fusion methods, demonstrating that a simple and quick mean-based approach effectively maintains tracking accuracy with our system. This flexible, low-cost system provides a reliable and practical solution for indoor localization, making it a valuable option for various indoor tracking and monitoring applications.