Mobile robot localization using an electronic compass for corridor environment

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple method for localization using an electronic compass. Electronic compasses are often used to detect the heading of mobile robots. However, electronic compasses have one drawback when used inside a building: they can easily be disturbed by electromagnetic sources (e.g., power lines) or large ferro-magnetic structures (e.g., bookshelves). However, this paper introduces another indoor application of electronic compasses. We take advantage of the magnetic¯eld disturbances by using them as distinctive place recognition signatures. Wē rst gather information about the changing heading as our robot travels along the hallway outside the lab, and then store this information. As the robot traverses the hallway, it gathers the information from the electronic compass and matches it with the pre-stored data. If a match is found, the robot can determine its current position. We use a sequential least-squares approximation approach for matching the signature. The simulation results will show that the robot can distinguish its location by using these signatures.

Indoor location sensing using geo-magnetism

“…Although previous work has explored using magnetic field measurements as a positioning tool, their methods rely on odometry sensors or constrained movement models [8,9,10,11]. We will discuss the differences between our approach and previous magnetic field-based tools in more detail in the related work section.…”

“…Using a single electronic compass (that measures in only one plane) mounted on a robot, Siiksakulchai, Thongchai, Wilkes, and Kawamura [8] developed a localization system using the heading information of a magnetic sensor. Their system collected data and compared the experimental headings to what they actually should have been.…”

Last-Mile Navigation Using Smartphones

“…In addition, the impact of mobile objects on the magnetic field is very limited. See [13,[24][25][26][27] for more detail. These local disturbances, stability over time and robustness make the magnetic field a good candidate for trace synchronization in FOLLOWME.…”

MEMS-based inertial navigation based on a magnetic field map

“…Most interest is from the robot localization perspective where odometry information is available [2,3,4,5]. Generally, in these applications localization is only considered in 2D, and the sensor is assumed to be rotating around only one axis.…”