Moving object controller, moving object control method, and integrated circuit

A moving object control method for controlling a moving object while performing processing for generating an environmental map expressed using information about a landmark and performing processing for estimating an internal state of the moving object, the method comprising:

• obtaining observation data from an observable event, the observation data being image data obtained by the moving object capturing an environment surrounding the moving object;
• generating a landmark prediction signal including predictive information about a landmark at a current time based on internal state data indicating an internal state of the moving object at a time preceding the current time, the internal state of the moving object being obtained by using at least one of (1) a state vector indicating an internal state for a position and an angle of the moving object and (2) variance-covariance matrix data obtained based on the position of the moving object, and environmental map data at the time preceding the current time;
• detecting information about the landmark at the current time based on the landmark prediction signal generated by the step of generating the landmark prediction signal, and generating a landmark detection signal indicating a result of the detection;
• and
• estimating the internal state of the moving object based on the observation data obtained by the step of obtaining the observation data and the landmark detection signal to obtain data indicating an estimation internal state of the moving object at the current time, and estimating the environmental map based on the landmark detection signal to obtain data indicating an estimation environmental map at the current time.

An integrated circuit used in a moving object controller for controlling a moving object while performing processing for generating an environmental map expressed using information about a landmark and performing processing for estimating an internal state of the moving object, the integrated circuit comprising:

• observation obtaining circuitry configured to obtain observation data from an observable event, the observation data being image data obtained by the moving object capturing an environment surrounding the moving object;
• landmark prediction circuitry configured to generate a landmark prediction signal including predictive information about a landmark at a current time based on internal state data indicating an internal state of the moving object at a time preceding the current time, the internal state of the moving object being obtained by using at least one of (1) a state vector indicating an internal state for a position and an angle of the moving object and (2) variance-covariance matrix data obtained based on the position of the moving object, and environmental map data at the time preceding the current time;
• landmark detection circuitry configured to detect information about the landmark at the current time based on the landmark prediction signal generated by the landmark prediction circuitry, and generate a landmark detection signal indicating a result of the detection;
• and
• state estimation circuitry configured to estimate the internal state of the moving object based on the observation data obtained by the observation obtaining circuitry and the landmark detection signal to obtain data indicating an estimation internal state of the moving object at the current time, and estimate the environmental map based on the landmark detection signal to obtain data indicating an estimation environmental map at the current time.