Topological exploration of subterranean environments

The need for reliable maps of subterranean spaces too hazardous for humans to occupy has motivated the development of robotic mapping tools suited to these domains. As such, this work describes a system developed for autonomous topological exploration of mine environments to facilitate the process of mapping. The exploration framework is based upon the interaction of three main components: Node detection, node matching, and edge exploration. Node detection robustly identifies mine corridor intersections from sensor data and uses these features as the building blocks of a topological map. Node matching compares newly observed intersections to those stored in the map, providing global localization during exploration. Edge exploration translates topological exploration objectives into locomotion along mine corridors. This article describes both the robotic platform and the algorithms developed for exploration, and presents results from experiments conducted at a research coal mine near Pittsburgh, PA. (C) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.