In this repository, you will find MATLAB codes to replicate the experiments published in our IROS 2020 publications.

Constructing a spatial map of an indoor environment, e.g., a typical office environment with glass surfaces, is a difficult and challenging task. Current state-of-the-art, e.g., camera- and laser-based approaches are unsuitable for detecting transparent surfaces. Hence, the spatial map generated with these approaches are often inaccurate. In this paper, a method that utilizes echolocation with sound in the audible frequency range is proposed to robustly localize the position of an acoustic reflector, e.g., walls, glass surfaces etc., which could be used to construct a spatial map of an indoor environment as the robot moves. The proposed method estimate the acoustic reflector's position, using only a single microphone and a loudspeaker that are present on many socially assistive robot platforms such as the NAO robot. The experimental results show that the proposed method could robustly detect an acoustic reflector up to a distance of $1.5$~m in more than $60 %$ of the trials and works efficiently even under low SNRs. To test the proposed method, a proof-of-concept robotic platform was build to construct a spatial map of an indoor environment.

The proof-of-concept robotic platform is shown in the image below

The hardware required to build a similar platform is shown in the image below

{ussa, jrj}@create.aau.dk