Title
Robust Legged Robot State Estimation Using Factor Graph Optimization
Abstract
Legged robots, specifically quadrupeds, are becoming increasingly attractive for industrial applications such as inspection. However, to leave the laboratory and to become useful to an end user requires reliability in harsh conditions. From the perspective of state estimation, it is essential to be able to accurately estimate the robot & x0027;s state despite challenges such as uneven or slippery terrain, textureless and reflective scenes, as well as dynamic camera occlusions. We are motivated to reduce the dependency on foot contact classifications, which fail when slipping, and to reduce position drift during dynamic motions such as trotting. To this end, we present a factor graph optimization method for state estimation which tightly fuses and smooths inertial navigation, leg odometry and visual odometry. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated using the ANYmal quadruped robot navigating in a realistic outdoor industrial environment. This experiment included trotting, walking, crossing obstacles and ascending a staircase. The proposed approach decreased the relative position error by up to 55 & x0025; and absolute position error by 76 & x0025; compared to kinematic-inertial odometry.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1109/LRA.2019.2933768
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Legged locomotion, Cameras, Robot vision systems, State estimation, Service robots, Legged Robots, Sensor Fusion, Localization
Journal
4
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
4
2377-3766
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
David Wisth182.33
Marco Camurri2136.05
Maurice F. Fallon358837.73