An efficient solution to 6DOF localization using Unscented Kalman Filter for planetary rovers

In this paper, we propose an efficient solution to 6 degrees of freedom (6DOF) localization using unscented Kalman filter for planetary rovers. The solution is a technique augmented the unscented Kalman filter for accurate 6DOF localization, named augmented unscented Kalman filter (AUKF). The AUKF is designed to deal with problems which occur on other planets: wheel slip, visual odometry error, and gyro drift. To solve the problems, the AUKF estimates the slippage ratio in an augmented state vector, the accuracy of the visual odometry with the number of inliers among feature points, and sensor usefulness with gyrodometry model. Experimental results of rover runs over rough terrain are presented, the effectiveness of the AUKF and its each component is shown.