'LUCAS': the library assistant robot, implementation and localisation

Abstract

In modern ageing society, robots are been designed to play an increasing role in the lives of elderly people This paper describes a mobile robotic assistant, named ‘LUCAS’, Limerick University Computerised Assistive System, that is currently being developed to assist elderly individuals with mild cognitive or physical impairments within a library environment. The aim of the project is to provide an assistive socially interactive robotic aid. The main focus of this paper is on the localisation system of ‘LUCAS’. A continuous localisation process is used which relies on monocular vision and ultrasonic range readings. The process employ’s methods of straight-line-extraction, vanishing point estimation and ultrasonic pattern detection. The correspondence space is reduced by splitting the navigable space into localisation variant regions. The pose is calculated for each localisation hypothesis within the particular region and is used to correct the motion of the robot before it enters the next localisation region.