Efficient Global Occupancy Mapping for Mobile Robots using OpenVDB

Abstract

In this work we present a fast occupancy map building approach based on the VDB datastructure. Existing log-odds based occupancy mapping systems are often not able to keep up with the high point densities and framerates of modern sensors. Therefore, we suggest a highly optimized approach based on a modern datastructure coming from a computer graphic background. A multithreaded insertion scheme allows occupancy map building at unprecedented speed. Multiple optimizations allow for a customizable tradeoff between runtime and map quality. We first demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach quantitatively on a set of ablation studies and typical benchmark sets, before we practically demonstrate the system using a legged robot and a UAV.