A WebGIS platform for mobile robot navigation developed with free and open source software

Abstract

Nowadays more and more applications require a mobile robot able to operate autonomously in an outdoor environment. The accuracy and precision of mapping systems for the working environment is particularly important for the management, control and efficiency of the activity of the mobile robot. For these reasons, mapping systems must be consistent and efficient, and capable to represent in real-time the surroundings, thus allowing the robot, equipped with a system of autonomous movement, the exploration of unknown environments. Here we present a new Web GIS platform able to track the navigation of mobile robots on a georeferenced cartographic data and to assign possible paths or waypoints. The WebGIS platform has been developed using only free and open source software and has been customized with useful tools for the management of the navigation of mobile robots.