Loc-NeRF: Monte Carlo Localization using Neural Radiance Fields

Understand

We present Loc-NeRF, a real-time vision-based robot localization approach that combines Monte Carlo localization and Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF).

• Our system uses a pre-trained NeRF model as the map of an environment and can localize itself in real-time using an RGB camera as the only exteroceptive sensor onboard the robot.
• While neural radiance fields have seen significant applications for visual rendering in computer vision and graphics, they have found limited use in robotics.
• Existing approaches for NeRF-based localization require both a good initial pose guess and significant computation, making them impractical for real-time robotics applications.