The RESOLV projects goal is to develop a general purpose tool to reconstruct large and complex indoor environments, rendering the representation available to users anywhere in the world. The system, termed EST (Environment Sensing for Telepresence) consists of a sensing head with a Laser Range Scanner and a video camera connected to a computer where the sensor control and data processing are done. To extend the project capabilities allowing automatic reconstruction and sensor displacement, the EST was mounted on top of a mobile platform, the AEST (Autonomous Environment Sensor for Telepresence), which is required to exhibit an autonomous behaviour, thus reducing human local intervention and allowing remote control facilities. The project follows the Internet paradigm, thus the reconstructed environment model is described in VRML format and the acquisition procedure is controlled through the Internet with a browser-like tool. All data processing is made on board and only the results are sent through the Internet.
Within a universe where the environment is unknown until it is reconstructed and where autonomous motion is required both in reconstructed and yet unmodelled regions, a robust navigation architecture is imperative. This is the projects component undeveloped and tested at IST/ISR, including the planning and execution of a designed trajectory, the avoidance of eventual unknown or unexpected obstacles, the emergency detection and handling, the localisation, and the recovery or, should it be necessary, the recalculation of a path to reach the final goal of the AEST.