Sequential selective integration of sensor data
First Claim
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1. A method of sequentially integrating measurements from a plurality of sensors to estimate a multi-dimensional value x, where the plurality of sensors include at least a first sensor and a second sensor, the method comprising:
- using a probability density function p(x) to estimate the multi-dimensional value x, where the probability density function p(x) is represented by a plurality of particles;
receiving measurements from the plurality of sensors comprising at least a measurement M1 from the first sensor and a measurement M2 from the second sensor;
determining whether the measurement M1 and the measurement M2 are trustworthy, where a first condition is true when both the measurement M1 and the measurement M2 are trustworthy, and if the first condition is determined to be true, then performing;
allocating particles among a plurality of groups, where a group corresponds to a sensor with a trustworthy measurement so that there is at least a first group corresponding to the measurement M1 and a second group corresponding to the measurement M2 in the plurality of groups;
for the particles in the first group, performing;
updating an estimate {tilde over (x)} for a particle for the multi-dimensional value x based at least partially on measurement M1 and on a prior estimate xold from a prior estimate of the probability density function p(xold);
computing an importance factor w for the particle based at least in part on the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and one or more trustworthy measurements other than measurement M1, where the one or more trustworthy measurements include at least measurement M2; and
associating the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and the importance factor w with the particle;
for the particles in the second group, performing;
updating an estimate {tilde over (x)} for a particle for the multi-dimensional value x based at least partially on measurement M2 and on a prior estimate xold from a prior estimate of the probability density function p(xold);
computing an importance factor w for the particle based at least in part on the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and one or more trustworthy measurements other than measurement M2, where the one or more trustworthy measurements include at least measurement M1; and
associating the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and the importance factor w with the particle; and
resampling with replacement the updated estimates {tilde over (x)} of the particles from at least the first group and the second group to generate an updated estimate for the multi-dimensional value x, where a probability with which a particle will be sampled depends at least partially on the importance factor w associated with the particle;
and, otherwise, if the first condition is determined not to be true, then not using at least one of the measurement M1 or the measurement M2.
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Abstract
This invention is generally related to sequential methods and apparatus that permit the measurements from a plurality of sensors to be combined or fused in a robust manner. For example, the sensors can correspond to sensors used by a mobile device, such as a robot, for localization and/or mapping. The measurements can be fused for estimation of a measurement, such as an estimation of a pose of a robot.
174 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of sequentially integrating measurements from a plurality of sensors to estimate a multi-dimensional value x, where the plurality of sensors include at least a first sensor and a second sensor, the method comprising:
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using a probability density function p(x) to estimate the multi-dimensional value x, where the probability density function p(x) is represented by a plurality of particles;
receiving measurements from the plurality of sensors comprising at least a measurement M1 from the first sensor and a measurement M2 from the second sensor;
determining whether the measurement M1 and the measurement M2 are trustworthy, where a first condition is true when both the measurement M1 and the measurement M2 are trustworthy, and if the first condition is determined to be true, then performing;
allocating particles among a plurality of groups, where a group corresponds to a sensor with a trustworthy measurement so that there is at least a first group corresponding to the measurement M1 and a second group corresponding to the measurement M2 in the plurality of groups;
for the particles in the first group, performing;
updating an estimate {tilde over (x)} for a particle for the multi-dimensional value x based at least partially on measurement M1 and on a prior estimate xold from a prior estimate of the probability density function p(xold);
computing an importance factor w for the particle based at least in part on the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and one or more trustworthy measurements other than measurement M1, where the one or more trustworthy measurements include at least measurement M2; and
associating the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and the importance factor w with the particle;
for the particles in the second group, performing;
updating an estimate {tilde over (x)} for a particle for the multi-dimensional value x based at least partially on measurement M2 and on a prior estimate xold from a prior estimate of the probability density function p(xold);
computing an importance factor w for the particle based at least in part on the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and one or more trustworthy measurements other than measurement M2, where the one or more trustworthy measurements include at least measurement M1; and
associating the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} and the importance factor w with the particle; and
resampling with replacement the updated estimates {tilde over (x)} of the particles from at least the first group and the second group to generate an updated estimate for the multi-dimensional value x, where a probability with which a particle will be sampled depends at least partially on the importance factor w associated with the particle;
and, otherwise, if the first condition is determined not to be true, then not using at least one of the measurement M1 or the measurement M2. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of sequentially integrating measurements from a first plurality of sensors to estimate a multi-dimensional value x, the method comprising:
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using a probability density function p(x) to estimate the multi-dimensional value x, where the probability density function p(x) is represented by a plurality of particles;
receiving measurements from the first plurality of sensors;
determining whether the measurements from the first plurality of sensors are trustworthy, where a first condition is true when measurements from a plurality of trustworthy sensors are trustworthy, where the plurality of trustworthy sensors are a subset of the first plurality of sensors, and if the first condition is determined to be true, then performing;
grouping particles into a plurality of groups, where a group corresponds to a trustworthy sensor so that the plurality of groups correspond to the plurality of trustworthy sensors;
updating the estimates for the multi-dimensional value x for the particles, where the estimate {tilde over (x)} for a particle is computed at least partially based on the measurement from the sensor corresponding to the group associated with the particle and on a previous value xold from a prior estimate of the probability density function p(xold);
computing importance factors for the particles, where an importance factor for a particle is computed at least partially based on the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} for the particle and at least partially based on the measurements from one or more other sensors of the plurality of trustworthy sensors, where the one or more other sensors correspond to one or more other groups that are not used to generate the updated estimate {tilde over (x)} for that particle; and
resampling the particles with replacement using the importance factors to generate the probability density function p(x). - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for autonomously computing an updated estimate of position of a mobile device, where the mobile device includes a plurality of sensors adapted to at least measure position, the method comprising:
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receiving measurements from the plurality of sensors, where the measurement include at least a first measurement indicating an absolute position and a second measurement indicating an incremental position;
determining how many of the measurements are trustworthy;
at least partially in response to determining that at least one measurement is trustworthy, then performing;
retrieving a prior estimate of the position of the mobile device; and
using the at least one trustworthy measurement and the prior estimate to update the estimate of the position of the mobile device;
and, at least partially in response to determining that none of the measurements is trustworthy, then resetting the estimated position to a predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification