SPRADE2 October 2023 AM69A
The process for making the robot navigate along the fixed path is easily accomplished with lanes and AprilTags painted on the ground. For example, the robot can be programmed to travel from one tag to another by defining what the robot must do upon detecting and recognizing each tag, for example, move forward, turn right and move, lift package and move forward, and so forth. In such scenarios, the robot does not need to localize as long as the robot can be controlled precisely as directed.
Localization is the process for the mobile robot to calculate their position and orientation in the mapped area while navigating dynamically. In most cases, the map is built in advance by the mobile robot as well and saved in the format that the robot can reuse for localization. The mobile robot explores an unknown environment and updates their location while building the map simultaneously. For this reason, this mapping process is called Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM).