• ETRI Journal
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.617-629
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• 2021

Although the actual visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms provide highly accurate tracking and mapping, most algorithms are too heavy to run live on embedded devices. In addition, the maps they produce are often unsuitable for path planning. To mitigate these issues, we propose a completely closed-loop online dense RGB-D SLAM algorithm targeting autonomous indoor mobile robot navigation tasks. The proposed algorithm runs live on an NVIDIA Jetson board embedded on a two-wheel differential-drive robot. It exhibits lightweight three-dimensional mapping, room-scale consistency, accurate pose tracking, and robustness to moving objects. Further, we introduce a navigation strategy based on the proposed algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed SLAM algorithm, its computational efficiency, and its benefits for on-the-fly navigation while mapping.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 2023

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors have been most widely used in terrestrial robotic applications because they can provide dense and precise measurements of the surrounding environments. However, the reliability of LiDAR measurements can considerably vary due to the different reflectivities of laser beams to the reflecting surface materials. This study presents a robust LiDAR-based mapping method for the varying laser reflectivities in indoor environments using the framework of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The proposed method can minimize the performance degradations in the SLAM accuracy by checking and discarding potentially unreliable LiDAR measurements in the SLAM front-end process. The gaps in point-cloud maps created by the proposed approach are filled by a Gaussian process regression method. Experimental results with a mobile robot platform in an indoor environment are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.32-42
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• 2016

In Korea, the absence of BIM use in existing civil structures and buildings is driving a demand for as-built BIM. As-built BIMs are often created using laser scanners that provide dense 3D point cloud data. Conventional static laser scanning approaches often suffer from limitations in their operability due to the difficulties in moving the equipment, the selection of scanning location, and the requirement of placing targets or extracting tie points for registration of each scanned point cloud. This paper aims at reducing the manual effort using a kinematic 3D laser scanning system based on graph-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for continuous indoor mapping. The robotic platform carries three 2D laser scanners: the front scanner is mounted horizontally to compute the robot's trajectory and to build the SLAM graph; the other two scanners are mounted vertically to scan the profiles of surrounding environments. To reduce the accumulated error in the trajectory of the platform through loop closures, the graph-based SLAM system incorporates AdaBoost loop closure approach, which is particularly suitable for the developed multi-scanner system providing more features than the single-scanner system for training. We implemented the proposed method and evaluated it in two indoor test sites. Our experimental results show that the false positive rate was reduced by 13.6% and 7.9% for the two dataset. Finally, the 2D and 3D mapping results of the two test sites confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed graph-based SLAM.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.188-195
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• 2024

This paper proposes a photorealistic real-time dense 3D mapping system that utilizes a neural network-based image enhancement method and mesh-based map representation. Due to the characteristics of the underwater environment, where problems such as hazing and low contrast occur, it is hard to apply conventional simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) methods. At the same time, the behavior of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is computationally constrained. In this paper, we utilize a neural network-based image enhancement method to improve pose estimation and mapping quality and apply a sliding window-based mesh expansion method to enable lightweight, fast, and photorealistic mapping. To validate our results, we utilize real-world and indoor synthetic datasets. We performed qualitative validation with the real-world dataset and quantitative validation by modeling images from the indoor synthetic dataset as underwater scenes.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.367-373
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• 2016

In this paper, range measurement performance of LRF (Laser Range Finder) module and image contrast of color CCD camera are evaluated under the aerosol (high temperature steam) environments, which are simulated severe accident conditions of the LWR (Light-Water-Reactor) nuclear power plant. Data of LRF and color CCD camera are key informations, which are needed in the implementation of SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) function for emergency response robot system to cope with urgently accidents of the nuclear power plant.