Terabee and Leti recently partnered to develop a location and mapping system for enclosed spaces. The system is built on a tower, rotating disk equipped with eight distance sensors, an inertial measurement unit, and a few clever algorithms. The advance was achieved in research conducted as part of the EU H2020 EuroCPS project. The system does not require substantial embedded processing resources and is very energy efficient.

The eight infrared time-of-flight sensors measure the distance between walls in real time. Leti developed a new algorithm to compensate for the lack of data. The algorithm uses SigmaFusion (multisensory data fusion) technology to translate the data received into location information that can be used to map an enclosed space in real time.

The first prototype completed successfully provided location data and was able to map a room measuring around 25 sq. m. Terabee's new sensors should be able to handle larger rooms and map entire buildings. The system is simple and affordable, making it ideal for small robots and indoor drones.