Autonomous Robotic Exploration and Navigation System using Tri-layered Mapping and Geometrical Path Planning Techniques

Abstract

In the recent decade, robotic exploration is emerging as a vast research platform as it prolongs to be a challenging task, especially in unknown dynamic environments. Exploration plays a vital role in collecting data from the areas inaccessible to the human. The operation of manual exploration systems in complex environments is cumbersome due to ineffective noise filtering, poor visibility and shuffling of map characteristics. In order to overcome such drawbacks, our approach focuses on the development of autonomous robotic exploration by designing a robust SLAM-based system, incorporating tri-layered mapping technique for automatic map generation and a new geometrical boundary-based path-planning technique to improve the mobility of the robot during navigation. The proposed path-planning algorithm yields better trajectory planning and obstacle avoidance using the pose, odometry and orientation parameters of the robot. The performance of the developed robot is evaluated through real-time experimentation, and it is evident from the results that, the proposed approach is preferable for autonomous exploration applications.