{"ID":2869322,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14915","arxiv_id":"2509.14915","title":"PERAL: Perception-Aware Motion Control for Passive LiDAR Excitation in Spherical Robots","abstract":"Autonomous mobile robots increasingly rely on LiDAR-IMU odometry for navigation and mapping, yet horizontally mounted LiDARs such as the MID360 capture few near-ground returns, limiting terrain awareness and degrading performance in feature-scarce environments. Prior solutions - static tilt, active rotation, or high-density sensors - either sacrifice horizontal perception or incur added actuators, cost, and power. We introduce PERAL, a perception-aware motion control framework for spherical robots that achieves passive LiDAR excitation without dedicated hardware. By modeling the coupling between internal differential-drive actuation and sensor attitude, PERAL superimposes bounded, non-periodic oscillations onto nominal goal- or trajectory-tracking commands, enriching vertical scan diversity while preserving navigation accuracy. Implemented on a compact spherical robot, PERAL is validated across laboratory, corridor, and tactical environments. Experiments demonstrate up to 96 percent map completeness, a 27 percent reduction in trajectory tracking error, and robust near-ground human detection, all at lower weight, power, and cost compared with static tilt, active rotation, and fixed horizontal baselines. The design and code will be open-sourced upon acceptance.","short_abstract":"Autonomous mobile robots increasingly rely on LiDAR-IMU odometry for navigation and mapping, yet horizontally mounted LiDARs such as the MID360 capture few near-ground returns, limiting terrain awareness and degrading performance in feature-scarce environments. Prior solutions - static tilt, active rotation, or high-de...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14915","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.14915v1","authors":"[\"Shenghai Yuan\",\"Jason Wai Hao Yee\",\"Weixiang Guo\",\"Zhongyuan Liu\",\"Thien-Minh Nguyen\",\"Lihua Xie\"]","published":"2025-09-18T12:49:51Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}