Lentzas, Athanasios & Vrakas, Dimitris. (2023). From Robot Self-Localization to Global-Localization: An RSSI Based Approach.. Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science. 391. 18-25. 10.4204/EPTCS.391.4.
Localization is a crucial task for autonomous mobile robots in order to successfully move to goal
locations in their environment. Usually, this is done in a robot-centric manner, where the robot
maintains a map with its body in the center. In swarm robotics applications, where a group of robots
needs to coordinate in order to achieve their common goals, robot-centric localization will not suffice
as each member of the swarm has its own frame of reference. One way to deal with this problem
is to create, maintain and share a common map (global coordinate system), among the members of
the swarm. This paper presents an approach to global localization for a group of robots in unknown,
GPS and landmark free environments. The main idea relies on members of the swarm staying still
and acting as beacons, emitting electromagnetic signals. These stationary robots form a global frame
of reference and the rest of the group localize themselves in it using the Received Signal Strength
Indicator (RSSI). The proposed method is evaluated, and the results obtained from the experiments
are promising.
