Mobile robot navigation in indoor environments using object and character recognition

Abstract

Navigation in unknown environments requires the robot to obtain the destination positions without a map. The utilization of model-based object recognition would be a solution, where the robot can estimate the destination positions from geometric relationships between the recognized objects and the robot. This paper presents a robot system for this kind of navigation, in which the robot navigates itself to the room designated by room number. The robot has an environment model including a corridor and a door with a room number plate, and utilizes the model for the efficient recognition of the objects and the estimation of their positions.