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Abstract - Sensor Configuration Matters: A Systematic Evaluation of Multimodal SLAM on Quadruped Robots
Autonomous navigation of quadrupedal robots in diverse environments fundamentally relies on resilient Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). While visual-inertial SLAM has matured across wheeled, handheld, and aerial platforms, a critical evaluation gap remains regarding how hardware-level sensor configurations affect performance under the aggressive dynamics of legged locomotion. Quadrupeds introduce distinct embodiment-induced sensory challenges, including foot-impact shocks, high-frequency mechanical vibrations, and rapid angular rotations, which degrade standard perception pipelines. To address this gap, we present a systematic evaluation of state-of-the-art visual, visual-inertial, and LiDAR-visual-inertial SLAM methods using the GrandTour dataset recorded on an ANYmal D quadruped. We isolate and quantify the impacts of camera modalities, shutter techniques, and inertial sensor tiers, analyzing their trade-offs across localization accuracy, algorithmic robustness, and computational resource utilization. Our empirical findings demonstrate that hardware selection has substantial influence on system resilience: stereo configurations consistently outperform monocular and RGB-D modalities, global shutter cameras significantly mitigate motion-induced tracking failures compared to rolling shutter cameras, and, crucially, standard inertial integration can degrade the performance of primarily vision-based frameworks under harsh legged locomotion. These insights additionally offer concrete design guidelines for tailoring custom sensor payloads to achieve dependable perception on agile legged systems.
传感器配置至关重要:四足机器人多模态SLAM的系统性评估 /
Sensor Configuration Matters: A Systematic Evaluation of Multimodal SLAM on Quadruped Robots
1️⃣ 一句话总结
本文系统评估了不同相机类型、快门技术以及惯性传感器配置对四足机器人SLAM定位精度和鲁棒性的影响,发现立体相机和全局快门能显著提升性能,而标准惯性传感器在剧烈运动下反而会拖累视觉SLAM效果,为设计可靠的机器人感知系统提供了实用指南。