Multi-agent map generation

A system for generating a map of an environment, the system including:

• a plurality of agents, each agent being configured to autonomously traverse an environment and including:
• a mapping system including a range sensor, the mapping system generating mapping data indicative of a three dimensional representation of the environment as the agent traverses the environment;
• and,
• one or more electronic processing devices configured to control the agent autonomously traversing through the environment and generate a map as the agent traverses the environment by:
• a) acquiring the mapping data captured by a mapping system;
• b) generating frames representing parts of the environment using the mapping data;
• c) receiving other frame data from one or more other agents of the plurality of agents, the other frame data being indicative of other frames representing parts of the environment generated using other mapping data captured by a mapping system of the one or more other agents of the plurality of agents;
• and,
• d) generating a graph representing the map of the environment by:
• i) generating nodes using the frames and other frames, each node being indicative of a respective part of the environment;
• and,
• ii) calculating edges interconnecting the nodes, the edges being indicative of spatial offsets between the nodes, wherein:
• (1) each agent maintains a respective independent graph based on:
• (a) the frames generated using the mapping data captured by the agent;
• and
• (b) the other frames generated using the other mapping data captured by the one or more other agents of the plurality of agents;
• and,
• (2) the graph generated by each agent is based on locally accurate trajectories traversed by the agents and is globally consistent with graphs generated by other agents of the plurality of agents.