Mobile Robots Exploration and Mapping in 2D

Abstract – In this paper, we present a system for multi-robot exploration of an unknown environment, taking into account the communication constraints between the robots. The objectives of the robots are to explore the whole environment as a group, while maintaining communication with base computer throughout the entire exploration. Our method was implemented using a mobile robot equipped with a sonar range finder, a communication unit, and a software module. The robots perform collision free navigation, dynamic object detection, data collection, and communication with a base computer. The base computer is accountable for data processing, and map construction according to data received from the robots. This work demonstrates that multiple robots can improve overall mapping performance of an unknown environment. Keywords- SLAM, mobile robot, mapping, obstacle avoidance I