Multiple ontologies for spatial exploration and mapping
Benjamin J. Kuipers · 2010
Exploration and navigation (human or robot) takes place at two distinct scales of space. Small-scale space is within the sensory horizon of the agent, where the agent can reliably localize itself and can build a metrically accurate map within a local frame of reference. Large-scale space is space whose structure is larger than the sensory horizon of the agent. This is the space of the cognitive map, which must be learned by merging information gathered during exploration.