Mutual localization in a multi-robot system with anonymous relative position measures

• Published in: 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems pp. 3974 - 3980
• Main Authors: Franchi, Antonio, Oriolo, Giuseppe, Stegagno, Paolo
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.10.2009
• Subjects: Filters; Intelligent robots; Multirobot systems; Particle measurements; Performance analysis; Performance evaluation; Position measurement; Robot kinematics; Robot sensing systems; Ultrasonic variables measurement
• ISBN: 9781424438037; 1424438039
• ISSN: 2153-0858
• DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354560

We address the mutual localization problem for a multi-robot system, under the assumption that each robot is equipped with a sensor that provides a measure of the relative position of nearby robots without their identity. Anonymity generates a combinatorial ambiguity in the inversion of the measure equations, leading to a multiplicity of admissible relative pose hypotheses. To solve the problem, we propose a two-stage localization system based on MultiReg, an innovative algorithm that computes on-line all the possible relative pose hypotheses, whose output is processed by a data associator and a multiple EKF to isolate and refine the best estimates. The performance of the mutual localization system is analyzed through experiments, proving the effectiveness of the method and, in particular, its robustness with respect to false positives (objects that look like robots) and false negatives (robots that are not detected) of the measure process.