Graphics enhanced version of this site

Autonomous exploration and mapping of abandoned mines
S. Thrun, S. Thayer, W. Whittaker, C. Baker, W. Burgard, D. Ferguson, D. Haehnel, M. Montemerlo, A.C. Morris, Z. Omohundro, C. Reverte, and W.L. Whittaker
IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 4, December, 2004, pp. 79-91.

Jump to: Download | Abstract | Notes | Text Reference | BibTeX Reference

Adobe portable document format (pdf) [2982 KB]

Copyright notice: This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Abandoned mines pose significant threats to society, yet a large fraction of them lack accurate maps. This article discusses the software architecture of an autonomous robotic system designed to explore and map abandoned mines. A new set of software tools is presented, enabling robots to acquire maps of unprecedented size and accuracy. On 30 May 2003, our robot “Groundhog” successfully explored and mapped a main corridor of the abandoned Mathies mine near Courtney, Pennsylvania. This article also discusses some of the challenges that arise in the subterranean environments and some the difficulties of building truly autonomous robots.

Associated project: 3D Mine Mapping

Number of pages: 13

S. Thrun, S. Thayer, W. Whittaker, C. Baker, W. Burgard, D. Ferguson, D. Haehnel, M. Montemerlo, A.C. Morris, Z. Omohundro, C. Reverte, and W.L. Whittaker, "Autonomous exploration and mapping of abandoned mines," IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 4, December, 2004, pp. 79-91.

@article{Thrun_2004_5317,
   author = "Sebastian Thrun and Scott Thayer and Warren Whittaker and Christopher Baker and Wolfram Burgard and David Ferguson and Dirk Haehnel and Michael Montemerlo and Aaron Christopher Morris and Zachary Omohundro and Carlos Reverte and William Red L. Whittaker",
   title = "Autonomous exploration and mapping of abandoned mines",
   journal = "IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine",
   month = "December",
   year = "2004",
   volume = "11",
   number = "4",
   pages = "79-91"
}