Pedestrian Density Prediction for Efficient Mobile Robot Exploration We present a method to predict humans in unexplored map areas given limited observations of the environment. We used a geometric representation of the environment based on cost maps and semantic room categorization. Human density distributions were generated using a human tracker based on LiDAR data recorded by a mobile robot. A Gaussian Process (GP) regression model was created to predict human density in surrounding unobserved map locations. GP prediction performance was evaluated on density data recorded in a series of ten simulations of 25 persons in an office setting, and in realworld robot deployments in an officelike environment. Experimental results demonstrate that the current method can predict human locations with an accuracy average of 70%.

Map Based Human Motion Prediction for People Tracking Mobile service robots deployed in populated environments like train stations, airports or offices are not only required to move safely, but also in socially acceptable ways. In order to achieve this, robots need to be able to track people within their vicinity. This work presents an approach to tracking people from a mobile robot platform, incorporating a novel approach to human motion prediction. Unfavorable viewing angles, motion blur and everchanging light conditions are constant issues for sensors on mobile vehicles. Therefore, a system is needed which increases the tracking quality of humans in order to cope with a low detection rate. The scientific contribution of this paper lies in a precise human model for tracking which utilizes historical spatial data of pedestrians from previous detection and from simulation. The model is embedded into a particlefilter based tracking approach designed for the use on a moving platform and is able to incorporate a variety of person detectors. Experiments conducted prove that the proposed method increases tracking quality, especially at a low detection rate.