An improved particle filter for mobile robot localization based on particle swarm optimization

As one of the most important issues in the field of mobile robotics, self-localization allows a mobile robot to identify and keep track of its own position and orientation as the robot moves through the environment. In this work, a hybrid localization approach based on the particle filter and particle swarm optimization algorithm is presented, focusing on the localization tasks when an a priori environment map is available. This results an accurate and robust particle filter based localization algorithm that is able to work in symmetrical environments. The performance of the proposed approach has been evaluated for indoor robot localization and compared with two benchmark algorithms. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves robust and accurate positioning results in indoor environments, requiring fewer particles than the benchmark methods. This advance could be integrated in a wide range of mobile robot systems, helping to reduce the computational cost and improve the navigation efficiency. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.