A Universal Grid Map Library: Implementation and Use Case for Rough Terrain Navigation

In this research chapter, we present our work on a universal grid map library for use as mapping framework for mobile robotics. It is designed for a wide range of applications such as online surface reconstruction and terrain interpretation for rough terrain navigation. Our software features multi-layered maps, computationally efficient repositioning of the map boundaries, and compatibility with existing ROS map message types. Data storage is based on the linear algebra library Eigen, offering a wide range of data processing algorithms. This chapter outlines how to integrate the grid map library into the reader’s own applications. We explain the concepts and provide code samples to discuss various features of the software. As a use case, we present an application of the library for online elevation mapping with a legged robot. The grid map library and the robot-centric elevation mapping framework are available open-source at http://github.com/ethz-asl/grid_map and http://github.com/ethz-asl/elevation_mapping .