LOCUS: A Multi-Sensor Lidar-Centric Solution for High-Precision Odometry and 3D Mapping in Real-Time

• Published in: IEEE robotics and automation letters Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 421 - 428
• Main Authors: Palieri, Matteo, Morrell, Benjamin, Thakur, Abhishek, Ebadi, Kamak, Nash, Jeremy, Chatterjee, Arghya, Kanellakis, Christoforos, Carlone, Luca, Guaragnella, Cataldo, Agha-mohammadi, Ali-akbar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.04.2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Agricultural robots; Autonomous exploration; Autonomy; Circuits; Consistent operation; Electric power generation; Extreme environments; Lidar; Localization; Localization accuracy; Loci; mapping; Mobile robots; Next generation robots; Optical radar; Path planning; Performance evaluation; Real time operation; Real time performance; Real-time systems; Robotic mobility platforms; Robotics and Artificial Intelligence; robotics in hazardous fields; Robotik och artificiell intelligens; Sensor fusion; Sensors; Simultaneous localization and mapping; SLAM; State-of-the-art techniques
• ISSN: 2377-3766; 2377-3766
• DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2020.3044864

A reliable odometry source is a prerequisite to enable complex autonomy behaviour in next-generation robots operating in extreme environments. In this work, we present a high-precision lidar odometry system to achieve robust and real-time operation under challenging perceptual conditions. LOCUS (Lidar Odometry for Consistent operation in Uncertain Settings), provides an accurate multi-stage scan matching unit equipped with an health-aware sensor integration module for seamless fusion of additional sensing modalities. We evaluate the performance of the proposed system against state-of-the-art techniques in perceptually challenging environments, and demonstrate top-class localization accuracy along with substantial improvements in robustness to sensor failures. We then demonstrate real-time performance of LOCUS on various types of robotic mobility platforms involved in the autonomous exploration of the Satsop power plant in Elma, WA where the proposed system was a key element of the CoSTAR team's solution that won first place in the Urban Circuit of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge.