Introspective Loop Closure for SLAM with 4D Imaging Radar

Fuente: arXiv
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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hilger, Maximilian, Kubelka, Vladimír, Adolfsson, Daniel, Becker, Ralf, Andreasson, Henrik, Lilienthal, Achim J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Hilger, Maximilian
Kubelka, Vladimír
Adolfsson, Daniel
Becker, Ralf
Andreasson, Henrik
Lilienthal, Achim J.
author_facet Hilger, Maximilian
Kubelka, Vladimír
Adolfsson, Daniel
Becker, Ralf
Andreasson, Henrik
Lilienthal, Achim J.
contents Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) allows mobile robots to navigate without external positioning systems or pre-existing maps. Radar is emerging as a valuable sensing tool, especially in vision-obstructed environments, as it is less affected by particles than lidars or cameras. Modern 4D imaging radars provide three-dimensional geometric information and relative velocity measurements, but they bring challenges, such as a small field of view and sparse, noisy point clouds. Detecting loop closures in SLAM is critical for reducing trajectory drift and maintaining map accuracy. However, the directional nature of 4D radar data makes identifying loop closures, especially from reverse viewpoints, difficult due to limited scan overlap. This article explores using 4D radar for loop closure in SLAM, focusing on similar and opposing viewpoints. We generate submaps for a denser environment representation and use introspective measures to reject false detections in feature-degenerate environments. Our experiments show accurate loop closure detection in geometrically diverse settings for both similar and opposing viewpoints, improving trajectory estimation with up to 82 % improvement in ATE and rejecting false positives in self-similar environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_02383
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Introspective Loop Closure for SLAM with 4D Imaging Radar
Hilger, Maximilian
Kubelka, Vladimír
Adolfsson, Daniel
Becker, Ralf
Andreasson, Henrik
Lilienthal, Achim J.
Robotics
Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) allows mobile robots to navigate without external positioning systems or pre-existing maps. Radar is emerging as a valuable sensing tool, especially in vision-obstructed environments, as it is less affected by particles than lidars or cameras. Modern 4D imaging radars provide three-dimensional geometric information and relative velocity measurements, but they bring challenges, such as a small field of view and sparse, noisy point clouds. Detecting loop closures in SLAM is critical for reducing trajectory drift and maintaining map accuracy. However, the directional nature of 4D radar data makes identifying loop closures, especially from reverse viewpoints, difficult due to limited scan overlap. This article explores using 4D radar for loop closure in SLAM, focusing on similar and opposing viewpoints. We generate submaps for a denser environment representation and use introspective measures to reject false detections in feature-degenerate environments. Our experiments show accurate loop closure detection in geometrically diverse settings for both similar and opposing viewpoints, improving trajectory estimation with up to 82 % improvement in ATE and rejecting false positives in self-similar environments.
title Introspective Loop Closure for SLAM with 4D Imaging Radar
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02383