Towards Collaborative Simultaneous Localization and Mapping: A Survey of the Current Research Landscape

Journal article

Motivated by the tremendous progress we witnessed in recent years, this paper presents a survey of the scientific literature on the topic of Collaborative Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (C-SLAM), also known as multi-robot SLAM. With fleets of self-driving cars on the horizon and the rise of multi-robot systems in industrial applications, we believe that Collaborative SLAM will soon become a cornerstone of future robotic applications. In this survey, we introduce the basic concepts of C-SLAM and present a thorough literature review. We also outline the major challenges and limitations of C-SLAM in terms of robustness, communication, and resource management. We conclude by exploring the area's current trends and promising research avenues.Comment: 44 pages, 3 figure

Authors: Lajoie, P-Y; Ramtoula, B; Wu, F; Beltrame, G

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Journal: Field Robotics
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 971-1000
• Publication date: 2022-05-01
• DOI: 10.55417/fr.2022032
• ISSN: 2771-3989
• Language: English
• Keywords: Simultaneous localization and mapping; Computer science; Robot; Cornerstone; Data science; Mobile robot; Artificial intelligence; Geography; Robustness (evolution); Resource (disambiguation)