Chapter 7

1. Regarding SLAM, what sensor is most used to create the data that SLAM needs to make a map?

   Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors are the most common SLAM sensors used by a wide margin. The 3D data that LiDAR provides is perfect for SLAM’s mapping function.

2. Why does SLAM work better with wheel odometer data available?

   The wheel odometers reduce the search space that the SLAM algorithm needs to look for the possible locations of the robot after moving. Thus, it increases information and reduces uncertainty in the map. How does it do this? By giving extra measurements about where the robot is located (how far it moved), we can then reduce our search to match where we are against our sensor readings.

3. In the Floor Finder algorithm, what does the Gaussian blur function do to improve the results?

   The Gaussian blur function reduces noise and gets rid of stray single pixels in the image, making for a smoother result.

4. The final step in Floor Finder is to...