In autonomous robot exploration, the frontier is the border in the world map dividing the explored and unexplored space. The frontier plays an important role when deciding where in the environment the robots should go explore next. We consider a modular control system pipeline for autonomous exploration where a 2D graph SLAM algorithm based on occupancy grid submaps performs map building and localization, and frontier detection is one of key system components. We provide an overview of the state of the art in frontier detection and the relevant SLAM concepts and propose a fast specialized frontier detection method which is efficiently constrained to active submaps, yet robust to graph SLAM loop closures.
This paper describes an application of the Cartographer graph SLAM stack as a pose sensor in a UAV feedback control loop, with certain application-specific changes in the SLAM stack such as smoothing of the optimized pose. Pose estimation is performed by fusing 3D LiDAR/IMU-based proprioception with GPS position measurements by means of pose graph optimisation. Moreover, partial environment maps built from the LiDAR data (submaps) within the Cartographer SLAM stack are marshalled into OctoMap, an Octree-based voxel map implementation. The OctoMap is further used for navigation tasks such as path planning and obstacle avoidance.
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