Design and implementation of a 3D scanning platform for mobile robotic applications

In an efficient autonomous navigation and exploration, the robots should sense the environment as exactly as possible in real-time and act correctly on the basis of the acquired 3D data. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a scanning platform, which can be used for both outdoor and indoor mobile robot navigation and mapping. A 3D scanning platform based on a 2D laser rangefinder was designed in a compact way with a maximum field of view for fast and accurate mapping. The designed mechanism provides 360° degree horizontal by 240° degree vertical field of view. The maximum resolution is 0.36° degrees in elevation and variable in azimuth. The proposed low cost compact design is tested by scanning a physical environment with known dimensions to show that it can be used as a precise and reliable high quality 3D sensor for autonomous mobile robots.