Simultaneous exploration and 3d mapping of unstructured environments

Mobile vehicles equipped with range sensing capabilities are well suited for exploring and mapping unknown environments. This paper describes such an exploration platform, based upon an all-terrain skid-steer vehicle and a forward-looking laser rangefinder. Planar range profiles, acquired by the ground-pointing rangefinder along the vehicle path, are used for reactive autonomous navigation and simultaneous 3D mapping. Successive profiles are corrected using inertial data provided by an onboard gyro-clino device and combined to produce a 3D model of the environment, using Delaunay triangulation. Various autonomous navigation modes are available during exploration. The platform has been extensively tested in indoor and outdoor environments.