Appearance-based Navigation Capabilities for a Semi-Autonomous Control of Powered Wheelchairs

CyberWorks Robotics公司正在开发一种电动轮椅自主导航系统。ITS系统 使用RGB-D传感器(Kinect V2摄像头)，结合低成本超声波测距传感器、激光测距仪 测距仪和里程计(使用惯性测量单元(IMU)的轮式编码器)。它的发展是基于 RTab-用于同步本地化和映射的地图(SLAM)。由IntRoLab of the Universityéde开发 Sherbrooke(UdeS)和分布式开源的rtag-Map处理基于外观的在线循环闭合 检测，即视觉检测到机器人正在访问它以前见过的区域的能力， 规模化、长效化。CyberWorks Robotics接洽IntRoLab检查HOT使其 通过使用视觉惯性里程计和其他针对真实世界的优化，当前的实施更加健壮 特征稀疏性、特征重复性和动态性等条件。为此，IntRoLab计划适应 其最新开发的SPLAM-MM(同步规划、定位和测绘)允许 机器人不断更新其地图，以纳入环境的动态变化。目标是 包括扩展和验证它的用途，以利用视觉惯性里程计，并处理以下情况 在转弯过程中失去视觉跟踪，场景中移动的人，错误的环路闭合，特征重复 环境，以稀疏环境为特征，适应环境中的微小和重大实时变化， 共享人类控制、穿越狭窄通道的轨迹规划、动态避障路径 重新路由，并解决潜在的故障条件，例如强烈的红外源，如强烈的直射阳光， 暖气散热器，以及玻璃/镀铬楼梯/栏杆周围等。这种自动导航的根本目的 该系统是为了帮助电动轮椅使用者，如四肢瘫痪、肌萎缩侧索硬化症和多发性 硬化症，他们在使用传统的电椅操纵杆或替代输入设备方面存在困难。

Cyberworks Robotics inc. is developing an autonomous navigation systems for power wheelchairs. Its system uses a RGB-D sensor (a Kinect V2 camera) combined with low cost ultrasonic range sensors, laser ranger finder, and odometry (using wheel encoders an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)). Its development is based on RTAB-Map for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). Developed at IntRoLab of the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) and distributed open source, RTAB-Map handles online appearance-based loop closure detection, i.e., the ability to visually detect that the robot is visiting an area that it has seen before, for large-scale and long-term operation. Cyberworks Robotics approached IntRoLab to examine hot to make its current implementation more robust by using visual inertial odometry and other optimizations for real world conditions such as feature sparse, feature repetitive and dynamic conditions. To do so, IntRoLab plans to adapt its recent development, SPLAM-MM (Simultaneous Planning, Localization And Mapping), which allows a robot to continuously update its map to incorporate dynamic changes of the environment. The objective consists of extending and validating its use to exploit visual inertial odometry and to deal with situations like loss of visual tracking during turns, moving people in the scene, false loop closures, feature repetitive environments, feature sparse environments, adapting to minor and major real time changes in the environment, shared human control, trajectory planning for traversal of narrow doorways, dynamic obstacle avoidance path re-routing, and address potential failure conditions such as intense IR sources like intense direct sunlight, heating radiators, and around glass/chrome stairs/railings, etc. The underlying purpose of such self-navigating system is to assist powered wheelchair users such as quadriplegic, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis, who have difficulty using traditional power chair joysticks or alternative input devices.