2001: The Odyssee of Lama

This video more or less corresponds to my PhD thesis and, with Simon, it took us quite some time to achieve it (the video and the thesis ;-). It shows Lama reaching a distant goal, adapting its navigation mode according to the kind of terrain it traverses. Two local navigation modes are depicted, and the way they are driven by a navigation planner that sets the sub-goal to reach is shown. While navigating, Lama localizes itself thanks to a visual motion estimation technique.

This robot is now retired and rests in the Musée des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. Since then, the trees that the robot avoids have also grown a lot!