Abstract
Cleaning is a major problem associated with pools. Since the manual cleaning is tedious and boring there is an interest in automating the task. This paper presents methods for autonomous localization and navigation for a pool cleaner to enable full coverage of pools. Path following cannot be ensured through use of internal position estimation methods alone; therefore sensing is needed. Sensor based estimation enable automatic correction of slippage. For this application we use ultrasonic sonars. Based on an analysis of the overall task and performance of the system a strategy for cleaning/navigation is developed. For the automatic localization a Kalman filtering technique is proposed: the Kalman filter uses sonar measurements and a dynamic model of the robot to provide estimates of the pose of the pool cleaner. Using this localization method we derive an optimal control strategy for traversal of a pool. The system has been implemented and successfully tested on the “WEDAB400” pool cleaner.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bozic, S.M. 1994. Digital and Kalman Filtering: An Introduction to Discrete-Time Filtering and Optimum Linear Estimation. Arnold: London.
Catlin, D.E. 1989. Estimation, Control, and the Discrete Kalman Filter. Springer-Verlag: New York, Berlin.
Chui, C.K. and Chen, G. 1991. Kalman Filtering: With Real-Time Applications. Springer-Verlag: Berlin, New York.
Haykin, S.S. 1991. Adaptive Filter Theory. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Kanjilal, P.P. 1995. Adaptive Prediction and Predictive Control. P. Peregrinus on behalf of Institution of Electrical Engineers:Stevenage.
Leonard, J.J. and Durrant-White, H.F. 1992. Directed Sonar Sensing for Mobile Robot Navigation. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Norwell, MA.
Leroy, C.C. 1992. Development of simple equations for accurate and more realistic calculation of the speed of sound in sea water. J.Acoust.Soc.Am., 46:216.
Maksarov, D. and Durrant-Whyte, H. 1995. Mobile vehicle navigation in unknown environments: A multiple hypothesis approach. Control Theory and Applications, IEE Proceedings, 142:385–400.
Marro, G. 1992. Controlli Automatici. Zanichelli, Bologna.
Martins De Carvalho, J.L. 1993. Dynamical Systems and Automatic Control. Prentice-Hall: New York.
Sorenson, H.W. 1985. Kalman Filtering: Theory and Application. IEEE Press: New York.
Urick, R.J. 1993. Principles of Underwater Sound. McGraw-Hill: New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simoncelli, M., Zunino, G., Christensen, H. et al. Autonomous Pool Cleaning: Self Localization and Autonomous Navigation for Cleaning. Autonomous Robots 9, 261–270 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008962901812
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008962901812