Simultaneous localization and map building: a global topological model with local metric maps

An approach combining the metric and topological paradigm for simultaneous localization and map building is presented The main idea is to connect local metric maps by means of a global topological map. This allows a compact environment model which does not require global metric consistency and permits both precision and robustness. The method uses a 360 degree laser scanner in order to extract corners and openings for the topological approach and lines for the metric localization. The approach has been tested in a 30 /spl times/ 25 m portion of the institute building with the fully autonomous robot Donald Duck An experiment consists of a complete exploration and a set of test missions. Three experiments have been performed for a total of 15 test missions, which have been randomly defined and completed with a success ratio of 87%.