Efficient volumetric mapping of multi-scale environments using wavelet-based compression


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Date

2023-07

Publication Type

Conference Paper

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

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Data

Abstract

Volumetric maps are widely used in robotics due to their desirable properties in applications such as path planning, exploration, and manipulation. Constant advances in mapping technologies are needed to keep up with the improvements in sensor technology, generating increasingly vast amounts of precise measurements. Handling this data in a computationally and memory-efficient manner is paramount to representing the environment at the desired scales and resolutions. In this work, we express the desirable properties of a volumetric mapping framework through the lens of multi-resolution analysis. This shows that wavelets are a natural foundation for hierarchical and multi-resolution volumetric mapping. Based on this insight we design an efficient mapping system that uses wavelet decomposition. The efficiency of the system enables the use of uncertainty-aware sensor models, improving the quality of the maps. Experiments on both synthetic and real-world data provide mapping accuracy and runtime performance comparisons with state-of-the-art methods on both RGB-D and 3D LiDAR data. The framework is open-sourced to allow the robotics community at large to explore this approach.

Publication status

published

Book title

Proceedings of Robotics: Science and System XIX

Journal / series

Volume

Pages / Article No.

65

Publisher

Robotics Science & Systems Foundation

Event

Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS 2023)

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

Volumetric Mapping; Localization and Mapping; Robot State Estimation; Robot Perception; Sensors and Vision

Organisational unit

03737 - Siegwart, Roland Y. / Siegwart, Roland Y. check_circle

Notes

Funding

871542 - PILOTs for robotic INspection and maintenance Grounded on advanced intelligent platforms and prototype applications (EC)

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