An experimental validation of a low-cost indoor relative position localizing system for mobile robotic networks

In this work, an experimental validation of a low-cost indoor relative position localizing system for mobile robotic networks is described. In our framework, each robot is assumed to be equipped with a light emitter along with a camera, both pointing to the ceiling. In this way, each robot can see on the ceiling a constellation with its own position at the azimuth and the (relative) positions of its neighbors falling in its visual field. This allows to measure the relative distance and orientation among robots. The proposed localizing system can be thought as a convenient tool to validate, among the others, the efficacy of cooperative control algorithms. Several experiments are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed localizing system for typical multi-robot tasks, such as rendezvous or formation control.