Ok, so let’s say someone wanted a robot that would be able to move freely around their house autonomously. Say, to tell it to go to the kitchen from the bonus room and have it do so. What would it take to be able to do that?
Hi Aerobyrd,
Unfortunately, indoor localization is still a difficult thing. The most accurate systems usually involve making large modifications to the environment, such as embedding magnetic wires into the floors or painting lines on the floors that the robot can follow.
If you’re not ready to do this, the next best thing is to use wheel encoders on your robot to implement a dead reckoning system: this system would be subject to accumulated error, so it would help if you could integrate a mechanism for correcting the error when the robot reaches known locations, such as the kitchen and the bonus room.
There are also some StarGazer systems that allow for more reliable calculation of location and minimal impact to the environment, but are also more expensive than wheel encoders.
Depending on the nature of the environment (other people, pets, obstacles, stairs, etc.), the robot would likely need additional mechanisms to detect and avoid collisions and to avoid falling off cliffs.
Hope this helps,
Jeffrey