Leg Exoskeleton Odometry using a Limited FOV Depth Sensor

Fuente: arXiv
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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xavier, Fabio Elnecave, Viozelange, Matis, Burger, Guillaume, Pétriaux, Marine, Deschaud, Jean-Emmanuel, Goulette, François
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Xavier, Fabio Elnecave
Viozelange, Matis
Burger, Guillaume
Pétriaux, Marine
Deschaud, Jean-Emmanuel
Goulette, François
author_facet Xavier, Fabio Elnecave
Viozelange, Matis
Burger, Guillaume
Pétriaux, Marine
Deschaud, Jean-Emmanuel
Goulette, François
contents For leg exoskeletons to operate effectively in real-world environments, they must be able to perceive and understand the terrain around them. However, unlike other legged robots, exoskeletons face specific constraints on where depth sensors can be mounted due to the presence of a human user. These constraints lead to a limited Field Of View (FOV) and greater sensor motion, making odometry particularly challenging. To address this, we propose a novel odometry algorithm that integrates proprioceptive data from the exoskeleton with point clouds from a depth camera to produce accurate elevation maps despite these limitations. Our method builds on an extended Kalman filter (EKF) to fuse kinematic and inertial measurements, while incorporating a tailored iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm to register new point clouds with the elevation map. Experimental validation with a leg exoskeleton demonstrates that our approach reduces drift and enhances the quality of elevation maps compared to a purely proprioceptive baseline, while also outperforming a more traditional point cloud map-based variant.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_19237
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Leg Exoskeleton Odometry using a Limited FOV Depth Sensor
Xavier, Fabio Elnecave
Viozelange, Matis
Burger, Guillaume
Pétriaux, Marine
Deschaud, Jean-Emmanuel
Goulette, François
Robotics
For leg exoskeletons to operate effectively in real-world environments, they must be able to perceive and understand the terrain around them. However, unlike other legged robots, exoskeletons face specific constraints on where depth sensors can be mounted due to the presence of a human user. These constraints lead to a limited Field Of View (FOV) and greater sensor motion, making odometry particularly challenging. To address this, we propose a novel odometry algorithm that integrates proprioceptive data from the exoskeleton with point clouds from a depth camera to produce accurate elevation maps despite these limitations. Our method builds on an extended Kalman filter (EKF) to fuse kinematic and inertial measurements, while incorporating a tailored iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm to register new point clouds with the elevation map. Experimental validation with a leg exoskeleton demonstrates that our approach reduces drift and enhances the quality of elevation maps compared to a purely proprioceptive baseline, while also outperforming a more traditional point cloud map-based variant.
title Leg Exoskeleton Odometry using a Limited FOV Depth Sensor
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19237