M³LVI: a multi-feature, multi-metric, multi-loop, LiDAR-visual-inertial odometry via smoothing and mapping

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a multi-feature, multi-metric and multi-loop tightly coupled LiDAR-visual-inertial odometry, M3LVI, for high-accuracy and robust state estimation and mapping. Design/methodology/approach M3LVI is built atop a factor graph and composed of two subsystems, a LiDAR-inertial system (LIS) and a visual-inertial system (VIS). LIS implements multi-feature extraction on point cloud, and then multi-metric transformation estimation is implemented to realize LiDAR odometry. LiDAR-enhanced images and IMU pre-integration have been used in VIS to realize visual odometry, providing a reliable initial guess for LIS matching module. Location recognition is performed by a dual loop module combined with Bag of Words and LiDAR-Iris to correct accumulated drift. M³LVI also functions properly when one of the subsystems failed, which greatly increases the robustness in degraded environments. Findings Quantitative experiments were conducted on the KITTI data set and the campus data set to evaluate the M3LVI. The experimental results show the algorithm has higher pose estimation accuracy than existing methods. Practical implications The proposed method can greatly improve the positioning and mapping accuracy of AGV, and has an important impact on AGV material distribution, which is one of the most important applications of industrial robots. Originality/value M3LVI divides the original point cloud into six types, and uses multi-metric transformation estimation to estimate the state of robot and adopts factor graph optimization model to optimize the state estimation, which improves the accuracy of pose estimation. When one subsystem fails, the other system can complete the positioning work independently, which greatly increases the robustness in degraded environments.