Indoor Mobile Robot Localization
The Robotics Institute released a report recently titled Parrots: A Range Measuring Sensor Network (PDF format) that describes a wireless sensor network that can be used for localization by indoor mobile robots. The network consists of nodes, called Parrots, that measure the range to other nodes using ultrasonic sensors. Each node includes a 16bit microcontroller, a wireless link, and a sensor board with 4 ultrasonic sensor arrays. When lots of Parrots are placed in an area, they automatically form a multi-hop ad-hoc wireless network. The robot carries a Parrot node as well, allowing the network to accurately map the location of the robot as it moves through the area. This research was done by the CMU Field Robotics Center. -more-