Non-cubic occupied voxel lists for robot maps

An alternative to the conventional quantization for occupied voxel lists in both 2D and 3D is presented. The performance metrics of the hexagonal lattice in 2D and the face centred and body centred cubic lattices in 3D are investigated and compared to their square and cubic counterparts. It is found that quantization to alternative lattices yields some improvements. Ultimately, the D3 or face centred cubic lattice is highlighted for its lower quantization error, lower rotation variability and higher order rotational symmetry. It has three times less occupied voxel count pose variability than a standard cubic occupied voxel list. These improvements have implications for SLAM and path planning.