Laser Range Finder Mapping of Floating Vehicle

Using laser range finders as a method of navigation is popular with mobile land robots; however, there has been little research using it with water vehicles. Therefore, this thesis explores the usage and data flow of a laser range finder on a water raft. A unique algorithm for localization and mapping for the sensor is developed and tested both in simulation and in realtime with a vehicle. Both the localization of the vehicle and mapping of its environment are able to achieve precise locations, deviating only a few millimeters of their expected values. With this algorithm, a closed-loop control system is also developed and implemented on the vehicle. The vehicle is able to move to a predefined location and be within a very small range of acceptable values. The control loop is further explored with damping, gain variations, and different trajectories..

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Hui, Corinna

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Franz S. Hover.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54476

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54476