Khonzumusa Hlophe, Pr. Eng.

Platform pose (localization and orientation) information is a key requirement for autonomous mobile systems. The severe natural conditions and complex terrain of underground mines diminish the capability of most pose estimation systems, especially GPS. Our research interest is focused on using low-cost off-the-shelf IMU to improve the Active Beacon Positioning System (ABPS) developed here at the CSIR. This paper proposes a novel pose estimator, for underground mines, that fuses together data… Show more

Platform pose (localization and orientation) information is a key requirement for autonomous mobile systems. The severe natural conditions and complex terrain of underground mines diminish the capability of most pose estimation systems, especially GPS. Our research interest is focused on using low-cost off-the-shelf IMU to improve the Active Beacon Positioning System (ABPS) developed here at the CSIR. This paper proposes a novel pose estimator, for underground mines, that fuses together data from the ABPS and low-cost MEMS based IMU. This pose estimator uses a square-root unscented Kalman filter (SR-UKF) to fuse the data together. The method is evaluated by building a complete system in a lab. Show less

Platform pose is a key requirement for autonomous systems. The severe natural conditions and complex terrain of underground mines diminish the performance of classical localization systems. This paper proposes a pose (localization and orientation) estimator that utilizes ultrasonic and electromagnetic signals to facilitate a time-of-flight (TOF) based trilateration. This system decreases maintenance costs by utilizing a wait mode and only operational once a receiver is in the vicinity. The… Show more

Platform pose is a key requirement for autonomous systems. The severe natural conditions and complex terrain of underground mines diminish the performance of classical localization systems. This paper proposes a pose (localization and orientation) estimator that utilizes ultrasonic and electromagnetic signals to facilitate a time-of-flight (TOF) based trilateration. This system decreases maintenance costs by utilizing a wait mode and only operational once a receiver is in the vicinity. The trilateration algorithm utilized is an Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimator. The pose estimator has two ultrasonic receivers at a fixed separation distance. The two ultrasonic receivers each calculate its unique position. The orientation of the object is obtained from the orientation of a line segment joining the two positions on the object. Show less