Time optimal robot motion control in simultaneous localization and map building (SLAM) problem

This paper provides a technique for minimal time robot motion control in the estimation-theoretic based simultaneous localizations and map building (SLAM) problem. We consider the scenario that the robot needs to go to a destination which is a prescribed location in the coordinate system referenced by its starting position. The task of the robot is to reach the destination within minimal time while localizing itself and building a map of the environment with a prescribed accuracy. This task may be a real navigation task or may be a subtask in a SLAM problem of a large unknown environment. A global sub-optimal control law is derived using dynamic programming techniques.