Robox, a Remarkable Mobile Robot for the Real World

摘要

Abstract. ν In this paper we present Robox, a mobile robot designed for au-tonomous operation in a mass exhibition environment. Robox has unique multi-modal interaction capabilities and a novel approach to localization using multiple Gaussian hypotheses. What makes Robox one of a kind is on the one hand its de-sign and the variety of functionalities united in one platform and on the other hand the scale of the Expo.02 project where Robox has been deployed. Here, we adopt an experimental view of the task. After the problem specifica-tion of mass exhibitions, we outline system integration aspects: mechanical design, safety, software and hardware architecture and interaction modalities. Finally, seen as an enabling technology for robots in exhibitions, we present the localization approach in more detail. Building on former experience with feature-based Kalman filter localization we address the data association problem whose neglect was found to be the pre-dominant reason for localization failures. Multiple hypotheses are generated by a constraint-based search in the tree of local-to-global associations, given a local map of observed features and a global map of the environment. As soon as hypotheses are available they get tracked with an algorithm relying on the same interpretation tree technique. By track splitting under geometric constraints, location ambiguity can be represented not only globally but also locally, thus forming a consistent framework for global Kalman filter localization. The experiments demonstrate sig-nificantly improved robustness at modest computational costs. The raison d’être of Robox is the Robotics pavilion at the Swiss National Exhi-bition Expo.02. There, ten Roboxes guided more than half a million visitors through the exhibition, eleven hours per day, seven days per week, from May 15 to October 20, 2002. 1