The Influence of the Map Merging Order on the Resulting Global Map in Multi-Robot Mapping

An important prerequisite for creation of an autonomous robot is the ability to create the map of the environment. While the use of robot teams becomes more and more widely used, the issue of robot coordination becomes one of the central questions to be addressed. If multiple robots are used for the exploration of the environment, their collected information has to be fused into one general global map. This problem is called map merging. In the case, when more than two robots map the environment, it is possible that the order of map merging can influence the quality of the result - the global map. However, most researches in the map merging field address the problem as if the recommended order of map merging were known. The goal of this paper is to prove that the merging order can greatly influence the resulting global map and discuss the consequences this knowledge makes in the mapping process.