Multirobot exploration for search and rescue missions: A report on map building in RoboCupRescue 2009

In the future, mobile robots may be able to assist rescue crews in search and rescue missions that take place in the dangerous environments that result from natural or man-made disasters. In 2006, we launched a research project to develop mobile robots that can rapidly collect information in the initial stages of a disaster. One of our important objectives is three-dimensional (3D) mapping, which can be a very useful tool for assisting rescue crews in strategizing rescue missions. To realize this 3D mapping, we identified five issues that we needed to address: (1) autonomous traversal of uneven terrain, (2) development of a system for the continuous acquisition of 3D data of the environment, (3) coverage path planning, (4) centralization of map data obtained by multiple robots, and (5) fusion of map data obtained by multiple robots. We solved each problem through our joint research. Each research institute in our group took charge of solving one of the above issues according to its area of expertise. We integrated these solutions to perform 3D mapping using our tracked vehicle, Kenaf. To validate our integrated autonomous 3D mapping system, we participated in RoboCupRescue 2009 and demonstrated our system using multiple robots on the RoboCupRescue field. In this paper, we introduce our mapping system and report the mapping results obtained at the RoboCupRescue event.