Hardware/Software codesign of particle filter for real time localization of mobile robots

Author(s)

Bruno Franciscon Mazzotti

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC/SB)
• Defense date: 2010-02-11

Examining board members

Eduardo Marques; Marcio Merino Fernandes; Jorge Luiz e Silva

• Advisor: Eduardo Marques

Abstract

Sophisticated techniques for estimation of models based on simulation, particle filters or Sequential Monte Carlo Methods, were recently used to solve many difficult problems in the field of mobile robotics. However, the success of particle filters was limited to the computation of parameters in low dimensionality spaces. The current research efforts in mobile robotics have begun to explore some structural properties of their application\'s domain involving the use of particle filters in spaces of a higher dimension, greatly increasing the complexity of the involved simulation. Statistical simulations of this nature require a lot of pseudorandom numbers that can be generated efficiently and meet certain quality criteria. The process of generating pseudorandom number becomes the critical point of such applications in terms of performance. In this context, reconfigurable computing is a technology capable of meeting the demand for high performance of large statistical simulations because systems based on reconfigurable architectures have the potential to map computation to hardware aiming to increase eficiency without a serious drawback in exibility. Reconfigurable technologies are also attractive because of their low energy consume, a essential feature for the future mobile robots. This dissertation presents an implementation of a FPGA based embedded system designed to solve the robot localization problem by the means of probabilistic technics. The fundamental part from the whole system is a fast random number generator mapped to reconfigurable hardware wich atends a rigid quality criteria (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 07/06770-1 - Design of a Probabilistic Architecture Based on Reconfigurable Computing and Apllied to Mobile Robotics
• Grantee: Bruno Franciscon Mazzotti
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master