Development of Landmark System Using Polarizing Film For Autonomous Mobile Robot.

Abstract

In this thesis, a new approach to Self-Positioning-System for an Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) is introduced. The system is composed of a set of small landmarks scattered inside of AMR working area and a reading system mounted on AMR. Each landmark is represented by a unique pattern made of polarizing film that is placed in a known fixed position. The panoramic scanning system is composed of a laser beam emitter and a detector of the reflected polarized light beam. When AMR approaches landmark's neighborhood, AMR can determine it's own position (x, y) and posture (orientation θ) by reading the landmark. By experiments, the system is able to determine AMR position with standard deviation of 10 [mm] or less and AMR posture with standard deviation of 1.0 [degree] of less when reading system inside of a circle (R=500 [mm] ) centered 800 [mm] away of the landmark.