Google Project Tango Enables the Lego Mindstorms EV3 Robot Model to Perform Autonomous Indoor Navigation

Abstract

Accurate autonomous indoor navigation is becoming more and more important. Robots operating in closed environments are unable to use satellite-based global positioning systems such as GPS, because the walls of buildings interfere with the appropriate signals. Today's challenges include obtaining accurate location information without any dependency on further infrastructure. This enables the independent and broad usage of robots without any additional effort. This master thesis presents the feasibility of autonomous indoor navigation with a new, generally available technology from Google called Google Project Tango. To assess whether the Google Project Tango device is suitable, a Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot model was built to carry the device. The research in this master thesis discovered that autonomous navigation requires three fundamental components in order to work. First, the robot must be location-aware. The robot must then be able to sense its surroundings to gain knowledge about the environment. Finally, the robot needs artificial intelligence to recognize and interpret the information, using such data to derive control commands....