Three Dimensional Environment Modeling through Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Techniques

We present our work developing a platform to use a two dimensional laser range finder and a modified version of the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm to develop a detailed, accurate three dimensional model of an unknown indoor environment with no a priori information. Our approach is to have the robot make multiple passes through the environment, with the sensor mounted at a different height each time. SLAM is performed at each resulting slice. We then present and compare two ways to fuse the maps attained at each height into an overall 3-D map.