3D Mapping, Localisation and Object Retrieval using Low Cost Robotic Platforms: A Robotic Search Engine for the Real-World

In this paper we present work in progress on the development of a low-cost autonomous robotic platform that integrates multiple state-of-the-art techniques in RGB-D perception to form a system capable of completing a real-world task in an entirely autonomous fashion. The task we set out to complete is determining the location of a preselected object within the physical world. This experiment requires a robotic framework with a number of capabilities including autonomous exploration, dense real-time localisation and mapping, object detection, path planning and motion control