Title: Submap-based Pose-graph Visual SLAM: A Robust Visual Exploration and Localization System,
Abstract: For VSLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), localization is a
challenging task, especially for some challenging situations: textureless
frames, motion blur, etc.. To build a robust exploration and localization
system in a given space or environment, a submap-based VSLAM system is proposed
in this paper. Our system uses a submap back-end and a visual front-end. The
main advantage of our system is its robustness with respect to tracking
failure, a common problem in current VSLAM algorithms. The robustness of our
system is compared with the state-of-the-art in terms of average tracking
percentage. The precision of our system is also evaluated in terms of ATE
(absolute trajectory error) RMSE (root mean square error) comparing the
state-of-the-art. The ability of our system in solving the `kidnapped' problem
is demonstrated. Our system can improve the robustness of visual localization
in challenging situations.