A Map Based on Laserscans without Geometric Interpretation

A map for an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) in an indoor environment for the purpose of continuous position and orientation estimation is discussed. Unlike many other approaches, this map is not based on geometrical primitives like lines and polygons. An algorithm is shown, where the sensor data of a laser range finder can be used to establish this map without a geometrical interpretation of the data. This is done by converting single laser radar scans to statistical representations of the environment, so that a crosscorrelation of an actual converted scan and this representative results into the actual position and orientation in a global coordinate system. The map itself is build of representative scans for the positions where the AMR has been, so that it is able to find its position and orientation by comparing the actual scan with a scan stored in the map.