Route Learning and Reproduction in a Tour-Guide Robot.

Traditionally, route information is introduced in tour-guide robots by experts in robotics. In the tour-guide robot that we are developing, we allow the robot to learn new routes while following an instructor. In this paper we describe the route recording process that takes place while following a human, as well as, how those routes are later reproduced.A key element of both route recording and reproduction is a robust multi-sensorial localization algorithm that we have designed, which is able to combine various sources of information to obtain an estimate of the robot's pose. In this work we detail how the algorithm works, and how we use it to record routes. Moreover, we describe how our robot reproduces routes, including path planning within route points, and dynamic obstacle avoidance for safe navigation. Finally, we show through several trajectories how the robot was able to learn and reproduce different routes. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.