A system for volumetric robotic mapping of abandoned mines

— This paper describes two robotic systems developed for acquiring accurate volumetric maps of underground mines. One system is based on a cart instrumented by laser range finders, pushed through a mine by people. Another is a remotely controlled mobile robot equipped with laser range finders. To build consistent maps of large mines with many cycles, we describe an algorithm for estimating global correspondences and aligning robot paths. This algorithm enables us to recover consistent maps several hundreds of meters in diameter, without odometric information. We report results obtained in two mines, a research mine in Bruceton, PA, and an abandoned coal mine in Burgettstown, PA. in Proceedings of ICRA-2003

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Sebastian Thrun, Dirk Hähnel, David I. Ferguson, Michael Montemerlo, Rudolph Triebel, Wolfram Burgard, Christopher R. Baker, Zachary Omohundro, Scott Thayer, William Whittaker
• Keywords: Accurate Volumetric Maps, Consistent Maps, ICRA 2003, Laser Range finders, Robotics