Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filter Algorithm Integrated with Neural Network Sensor Model Using Laser Distance Sensor

Commonly, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm is developed using high-end sensors. Alternatively, some researchers use low-end sensors due to the lower cost of the robot. However, the low-end sensor produces noisy sensor measurements that can affect the SLAM algorithm, which is prone to error. Therefore, in this paper, a SLAM algorithm, which is a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) integrated with artificial neural networks (ANN) sensor model, is introduced to improve the measurement accuracy of a low-end laser distance sensor (LDS) and subsequently improve the performance of SLAM. The RBPF integrated with the ANN sensor model is experimented with by using the Turtlebot3 mobile robot in simulation and real-world experiments. The experiment is validated by comparing the occupancy grid maps estimated by RBPF integrated with the ANN sensor model and RBPF without ANN. Both the results in simulation and real-world experiments show that the SLAM performance of RBPF integrated with the ANN sensor model is better than the RBPF without ANN. In the real-world experiment results, the performance of the occupied cells integrated with the ANN sensor model is increased by 107.59%. In conclusion, the SLAM algorithm integrated with the ANN sensor model is able to improve the accuracy of the map estimate for mobile robots using low-end LDS sensors.