Characterization of a compact laser scanner as a sensor for legged mobile robots

This article considers selected operational characteristics and measurement errors of the 2D laser scanner URG-04LX, which is a compact sensor suitable for walking robots. Quantitative errors in range measurement are evaluated considering the intensity output available from the sensor. The obtained intensity values help to correct the range measurements with regard to the optical characteristics of the observed surfaces. Moreover, mixed measurements are characterized and compared to the mixed measurements characteristics in the popular Sick LMS 200 laser scanner. Finally, it is shown how taking into account the error characteristics of the URG-04LX scanner improves its performance as the main exteroceptive sensor of a small walking robot.