using existing map instead of slam-built map to navigation and localization
Hi all,
I want to navigate a robot in a large but regular area. It would be demanding to let the robot go through this area to build a map using laser SLAM. Instead, I can draw a sketch or model of the area, it seems I can convert it into pgm format. If I specify the yaml correctly, can I use the pgm map file and yaml file to replace the map produced by laser SLAM for navigation?
Secondly about the localization, I don't fully understand how amcl works, but it takes input the real time laser data and the map, combining with odometry to achieve localization. It seems it would compare the realtime laser data with the map? I'm not very sure about this. If the environment is almost identical, thus the real time laser data has the same structure when the robot is located at different places, will the amcl work as normal?
Thanks for any help!
Answering the first question: yes. You can sketch a map and turning it into a .pgm file but for move_base purposes you will have to serve it through ros map server.
Unfortunately, I can´t answer your second question at all. Sorry.
Thanks very much. Regarding to second question, I think amcl won't give reliable result.