# Staircase Localization for Autonomous Exploration in Urban Environments

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.17330 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.17330/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [You Only Look Once: Unified, Real-Time Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.02640/) (2015)
- [MobileNetV2: Inverted Residuals and Linear Bottlenecks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.04381/) (2018)
- [MobileNets: Efficient Convolutional Neural Networks for Mobile Vision Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.04861/) (2017)
- [Line Segment Detection Using Transformers without Edges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.01909/) (2021)
- [NeBula: Quest for Robotic Autonomy in Challenging Environments; TEAM CoSTAR at the DARPA Subterranean Challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.11470/) (2021)
- [Towards Light-weight and Real-time Line Segment Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.00186/) (2021)
- [TP-LSD: Tri-Points Based Line Segment Detector](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.05505/) (2020)
- [Neural Ray Surfaces for Self-Supervised Learning of Depth and Ego-motion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.06630/) (2020)
- [PLGRIM: Hierarchical Value Learning for Large-scale Exploration in Unknown Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.05633/) (2021)
- [Deep Leaning-Based Ultra-Fast Stair Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.05275/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

A staircase localization method is proposed for robots to explore urban environments autonomously. The proposed method employs a modular design in the form of a cascade pipeline consisting of three modules of stair detection, line segment detection, and stair localization modules. The stair detection module utilizes an object detection algorithm based on deep learning to generate a region of interest (ROI). From the ROI, line segment features are extracted using a deep line segment detection algorithm. The extracted line segments are used to localize a staircase in terms of position, orientation, and stair direction. The stair detection and localization are performed only with a single RGB-D camera. Each component of the proposed pipeline does not need to be designed particularly for staircases, which makes it easy to maintain the whole pipeline and replace each component with state-of-the-art deep learning detection techniques. The results of real-world experiments show that the proposed method can perform accurate stair detection and localization during autonomous exploration for various structured and unstructured upstairs and downstairs with shadows, dirt, and occlusions by artificial and natural objects.