System and method for probabilistic multi-robot positioning
AssigneeMitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsMilutin Pajovic, Philip Orlik
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robot configured for multi-robot pose estimation execute iteratively the primary particle filter and the secondary particle filter independently from each other to update the pose estimations in the primary and the secondary particles. In response to each encounter of the robot with a neighboring robot, the robot receives neighboring particles of a particle filter of the neighboring robot identifying poses and likelihoods of the poses of the neighboring robot and replaces the primary particles of the primary particle filter with the secondary particles fused with the neighboring particles. The robot outputs its pose according to the primary particles of the primary particle filter.
Claims16
A robot configured for multi-robot pose estimation, comprising:
- a set of sensors for measuring movements of the robot in an environment in which a neighboring robot coexists with the robot, to produce sensor measurements;
- a memory configured to store a primary particle filter maintaining a set of primary particles and a secondary particle filter maintaining a set of secondary particles, each particle in the set of primary particles and the set of secondary particles includes an estimation of a pose of the robot and a weight indicative of a probability of existence of the pose estimation;
- and
- a processor configured to
- execute iteratively, the primary particle filter and the secondary particle filter, to update the estimation of pose in each particle in the set of primary particles and the set of secondary particles, based on the sensor measurements;
- receive, in response to at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot, neighboring particles of a particle filter of the neighboring robot identifying poses of the neighboring robot and likelihoods of existence of the poses of the neighboring robot, wherein movement of at least one of the robot or the neighboring robot leads to the at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot;
- replace, in response to the at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot, the set of primary particles of the primary particle filter with the set of secondary particles fused with the neighboring particles;
- and
- an output interface configured to output the pose of the robot according to the set of primary particles of the primary particle filter of the robot.
A method for estimating a pose of a robot, wherein the pose includes one or combination of a location of the robot and an orientation of the robot, wherein the method uses a processor coupled with a memory storing instructions for implementing the method, wherein the memory is configured to store a primary particle filter maintaining a set of primary particles and a secondary particle filter maintaining a set of secondary particles, each particle in the set of primary particles and the set of secondary particles includes an estimation of the pose of the robot and a weight indicative of a probability of existence of the pose estimation, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor carry out steps of the method, comprising:
- receiving sensor measurements of movements of the robot in an environment in which a neighboring robot coexists with the robot;
- executing iteratively, the primary particle filter and the secondary particle filter, to update the estimation of pose in each particle in the set of primary particles and the set of secondary particles based on the sensor measurement;
- receiving, in response to at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot, neighboring particles of a particle filter of the neighboring robot identifying poses of the neighboring robot and likelihoods of existence of the poses of the neighboring robot, wherein movement of at least one of the robot or the neighboring robot leads to the at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot;
- replacing, in response to the at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot, the set of primary particles of the primary particle filter with the set of secondary particles fused with the neighboring particles;
- and
- outputting the pose of the robot according to the set of primary particles of the primary particle filter of the robot.
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium embodied thereon a program executable by a processor coupled with a memory storing a primary particle filter maintaining a set of primary particles and a secondary particle filter maintaining a set of secondary particles, each particle in the set of primary particles and the set of secondary particles includes an estimation of the pose of the robot and a weight indicative of a probability of existence of the pose estimation, the method comprising:
- receiving sensor measurements of movements of a robot in an environment in which a neighboring robot coexists with the robot;
- execute iteratively, the primary particle filter and the secondary particle filter, to update an estimation of pose in each particle in the set of primary particles and the set of secondary particles based on the sensor measurements;
- receiving, in response to at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot, neighboring particles of a particle filter of the neighboring robot identifying poses of the neighboring robot and likelihoods of existence of the poses of the neighboring robot, wherein movement of at least one of the robot or the neighboring robot leads to the at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot;
- replacing, in response to the at least one encounter of the robot with the neighboring robot, the set of primary particles of the primary particle filter with the set of secondary particles fused with the neighboring particles;
- and
- outputting the pose of the robot according to the set of primary particles of the primary particle filter of the robot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.