The global localization problem is often addressed in robotics. In this project we proposed a new method to solve the problem of global localization in underwater environments. Our approach is based on probabilistic and interval techniques, resulting in a hybrid method. The probabilistic approach provides an efficient solution to localization problem, however it does not provide any guarantee that the true robot pose is represented by the estimated solution. In contrast to that, interval methods output a region that contains the true robot pose. This assumption is mathematically guaranteed considering that the problem is well modeled. Although interval methods guarantee a correct solution, it does not provide a precise robot pose, only a region that contains it, which may be large. With the hybridization proposed, we intend to overcome some weakness encountered in each method.
Global localization of underwater robots using a hybrid approach based on probabilistic and interval techniques
