Newbie navigation quesions

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Hi,

Few questions about navigation:

1: I have recently read about point cloud to laser scan 2D conversion of data. I already have kinect and 2D Hokuyo mounted on my robot. Does that mean I can completely avoid LADAR and use Kinect instead? To perform, experiments such as mapping, navigation planning.

2: Since Navigation requires accurate odometory data how can we work in case of any hardware wear and tear. For e.g: In case I have two motors of same configuration. After using it for some period there might be some wear and tear in such case how odometory behaves?

3.Can i use ONLY Kinect for mapping and navigation without IMU or 2D laser scanner? OR can i combine the data of Kinect and Laser scanner using Kalman filter? (NO IMU)

Any Help appreciated,

Abhimoh