Real-Time Implementation of MEKF using VDPL Localization Algorithm by Utilizing MATLAB & ROS Communication

Mobile robots, which are produced to fulfill certain tasks to make our lives easier, are becoming more and more common in our environment day by day. In the long run, these robots can be more cost-effective, faster, and more efficient than humans in accomplishing tasks. In order for mobile robots to fulfill the tasks, they need to be able to safely navigate to specific destinations without hitting obstacles. Safely reaching a given goal most accurately and shortly is the problem of autonomy. This autonomy problem is divided into sub-problems and algorithms are needed to solve each sub-problem. The main sub-problems in the field of autonomy are localization, mapping, local planning, and global planning. The main purpose of this paper is to describe how the position information computed by a MEKF (Modified Extended Kalman Filter) localization algorithm using the VDPL (Virtual Dynamic Point Landmark) algorithm, which was previously designed in MATLAB, is published to the ROS environment via a topic. This position information can be used together with the local and global planning algorithms in the navigation stack to realize fully autonomous driving capability in a real-time environment. Using these algorithms, full-autonomous driving tests were conducted on the Turtlebot3 mobile robot in a real-time environment according to a predefined scenario. The performance results of both simulation and real-world tests show that the MEKF using the VDPL algorithm outperforms the AMCL algorithm in the navigation stack in both cases.