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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.21693 |
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Table of Contents:
- Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a foundational state estimation problem in robotics in which a robot accurately constructs a map of its environment while also localizing itself within this construction. We study the active SLAM problem through the lens of optimal stochastic control, thereby recasting it as a decision-making problem under partial information. After reviewing several commonly studied models, we present a general stochastic control formulation of active SLAM together with a rigorous treatment of motion, sensing, and map representation. We introduce a new exploration stage cost that encodes the geometry of the state when evaluating information-gathering actions. This formulation, constructed as a nonstandard partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP), is then analyzed to derive rigorously justified approximate solutions that are near-optimal. To enable this analysis, the associated regularity conditions are studied under general assumptions that apply to a wide range of robotics applications. For a particular case, we conduct an extensive numerical study in which standard learning algorithms are used to learn near-optimal policies.