Using Everyday WiFi To Help Robots See and Navigate Better Indoors

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a low cost, low power technology to help robots accurately map their way indoors, even in poor lighting and without recognizable landmarks or features. The technology consists of sensors that use WiFi signals to help the robot map where it's going. It's a new approach to indoor robot navigation. Most systems rely on optical light sensors such as cameras and LiDARs. In this case, the so-called "WiFi sensors" use radio frequency signals rather than light or visual cues to see, so they can work in conditions where cameras and LiDARs struggle—in low light, changing light, and repetitive environments such as long corridors and warehouses. And by using WiFi, the technology could offer an economical alternative to expensive and power hungry LiDARs, the researchers noted. A team of researchers from the Wireless Communication Sensing and Networking Group , led by UC San Diego electrical and computer engineering professor Dinesh Bharadia, will present their work at the 2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) , which will take place from May 23 to 27 in Philadelphia.