Tunnels in construction exhibit many challenges for automation. In this work we address the robotization of a conventional dumper for debris removal during the construction of tunnels, in the framework of a technological transfer project. The goal is to convert a dumper into an autonomous vehicle capable of planning, navigate and localize itself. Planning and navigation techniques have been adapted to the special kinodynamic characteristics of the vehicle. The difficulties for having a precise continuous localization in this kind of scenarios, due to the irregularities of the terrain, the changing illumination and the own scenario, have driven to develop hybrid localization techniques to integrate continuous and discrete information, coming from the navigation sensors, some semantic geometric features, and the signal strength propagation in tunnel scenarios. Simulation and real-world experiments are described, and some preliminary results are discussed.
Robot localization inside tunnels is a challenging task due to the special conditions of these environments. The GPS-denied nature of these scenarios, coupled with the low visibility, slippery and irregular surfaces, and lack of distinguishable visual and structural features, make traditional robotics methods based on cameras, lasers, or wheel encoders unreliable. Fortunately, tunnels provide other types of valuable information that can be used for localization purposes. On the one hand, radio frequency signal propagation in these types of scenarios shows a predictable periodic structure (periodic fadings) under certain settings, and on the other hand, tunnels present structural characteristics (e.g., galleries, emergency shelters) that must comply with safety regulations. The solution presented in this paper consists of detecting both types of features to be introduced as discrete sources of information in an alternative graph-based localization approach. The results obtained from experiments conducted in a real tunnel demonstrate the validity and suitability of the proposed system for inspection applications.
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