3D maps have gained substantial interest in the robotics community as such maps provide better support for a wide variety of tasks including navigation, localization,and perception. For example, robots that know about the 3D-structure of the environment can better avoid obstacles, can more reliably localize themselves, and can more robustly detect objects. 3D-representations provide benefits in all applications in which robots are deployed in real-world scenarios. 3D-models of environments are envisioned to be useful in a wide area of applications, which goes far beyond robotics, like architecture, emergency planning, interaction, and visualization.
At the research center Roobotics, Automation and Process Control at Örebro university, Sweden, a group of researchers has developed a 3D navigation system for autonomous mining trucks. The first field tests have been conducted i Finland in 2007.
