Comparative evaluation of range sensor accuracy in indoor environments

3D range sensing is one of the important topics in robotics, as it is often a component in vital autonomous subsystems like collision avoidance, mapping and semantic perception. The development of affordable, high frame rate and precise 3D range sensors is thus of considerable interest. Recent advances in sensing technology have produced several novel sensors that attempt to meet these requirements. This work is concerned with the development of a holistic method for accuracy evaluation of the measurements produced by such devices. A method for comparison of range sensor output to a set of reference distance measurements is proposed. The approach is then used to compare the behavior of three integrated range sensing devices, to that of a standard actuated laser range sensor. Test cases in an uncontrolled indoor environment are performed in order to evaluate the sensors’ performance in a challenging, realistic application scenario