Towards Gaussian Multi-Robot SLAM for Underwater Robotics

Dave Kroetsch, University of Waterloo
Christopher M. Clark, University of Waterloo

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11 pages. Copyright © 2005 Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute.

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author Christopher Clark was not yet affiliated with Cal Poly.

Abstract

This paper presents initial steps towards developing autonomous navigation capabilities for cooperating underwater robots. Specifically, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, or SLAM, capabilities are investigated for a group of micro vehicles each equipped with a single downward facing camera and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). To verify the approach, simulations of the multi-robot SLAM running in a 3D environment were conducted, where vehicles in close proximity of one another exchange maps to improve localization.