Map building with ultrasonic sensors of indoor environments using neural networks

Map building and position estimation are basic tasks in mobile robot navigation with path planning. A method to generate a global map of the vehicle work environment using ultrasonic sensors is developed in this paper. Depending on the physical properties of the walls that form the room where the robot is navigating, sonar sensors show different behaviours. A neural network is utilized to interpret the range readings of ultrasonic sensors in the different environments. A local map composed of squared cells is formed through the neural network that gives the occupancy probabilities for each cell. Finally, a global map is built achieving integration of different views of the environment using Bayes' rule. Results of the method implementation in the construction in a specular environment as well as in rough wall environments are shown in this paper.