Cross Hallway Detection and Indoor Localization Using Flash Laser Detection and Ranging

A flash LADAR is investigated as a source of navigation information to support cross-hallway detection and relative localization. To accomplish this, a dynamic, flexible simulation was developed that simulated the LADAR and the noise of a LADAR system. Using simulated LADAR data, algorithms were developed that were shown to be effective at detecting cross hallways in simulated ideal environments and in simulated environments with noise. Relative position was determined in the same situations. A SwissRanger SR4000 flash LADAR was then used to collect real data and to verify algorithm performance in real environments. Hallway detection was shown to be possible in all real data sets, and the relative position-finding algorithm was shown to be accurate when compared to the absolute accuracy of the LADAR. Thus, flash LADAR is concluded to be an effective source for indoor navigation information