Position estimator for underground mine equipment

A 2-D perception system that exploits the accuracy and resolution of a laser range sensor to determine the position and orientation of a mobile robot in a mine environment is described. The perception system detects features from range sensor data and matches the features to a map of the mine to compute the sensor position. The features used are line segments and corners, which represent the typical geometry of the mine walls and intersections found in room-and-pillar-type mining. The position estimate is refined by minimizing the error between the map and sensed features. This position information can be used for autonomous navigation when a map of the mine is available or to survey the mine in order to build such a map. The technique is applied to robot navigation in a mine mockup. A refinement of this system could guide machines to yield productive, safe mining operations