S. Thrun, C. Martin, Y. Liu, D. Hähnel, R. Emery-Montemerlo, D. Chakrabarti, and W. Burgard

A Real-Time Expectation Maximization Algorithm for Acquiring Multi-Planar Maps of Indoor Environments with Mobile Robots

IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 20 (3), pp. 433-442, 2003.


Abstract

This paper presents a real-time algorithm for acquiring compact 3D maps of indoor environments, using a mobile robot equipped with range and imaging sensors. Building on previous work on real-time pose estimation during mapping, our approach extends the popular expectation maximization algorithm to multi-surface models, and makes it amenable to real-time execution. Maps acquired by our algorithm consist of compact sets of textured polygons that can be visualized interactively. Experimental results obtained in corridor-type environments illustrate that compact and accurate maps can be acquired in real-time and in a fully automated fashion.

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Bibtex

@ARTICLE{Thrun03IEEETRANS,
  AUTHOR    = {Thrun, S. and Martin, C. and Liu, Y. and H{\"a}hnel, D. and Emery Montemerlo, R. and Deepayan, C. and Burgard, W.},
  TITLE     = {A Real-Time Expectation Maximization Algorithm for Acquiring Multi-Planar Maps of Indoor Environments with Mobile Robots},
  YEAR      = {2003},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation},
  volume = {20},
  number = {3},
  pages = {433-442},
}