A fast scan matching for grid-based laser SLAM using streaming SIMD extensions

The scan matching is one of the basic elements of several SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithms. There are a lot of researches that are interested in scan matching, but the majority deals with the algorithmic side only, without worrying about implementation tricks that can be very useful. This paper presents a simple and effective method to accelerate the scan matching step. Our method uses the computing power offered by the SSE instructions. These instructions, developed by Intel, allows the processing of several data simultaneously. This method does not require the use of a specific hardware (GPU for example), because SSE instructions exist in the majority of the commonly used processors (Intel, AMD). The examples and programs presented in the article are part of our SLAM algorithm, developed in the Robotics Center of Mines ParisTech.