Map-Based Localization

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Overview

Map-based localization estimates position and orientation by matching camera, LiDAR, radar, radio, or inertial observations to a reference map. Maps range from point clouds and 3D models to floor plans, road networks, satellite imagery, and compact semantic or topological representations; methods use retrieval and feature matching, geometric registration, particle filters, or pose-graph optimization. The field covers both global relocalization and continuous tracking, with benchmarks spanning indoor buildings, roads, forests, and aerial or GPS-denied settings. A central challenge is balancing accurate, reliable localization against compact maps and efficient computation, especially when scenes change, look alike, or provide incomplete observations.

Latest papers

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106 papers16 papers in the last four weeks, up 14% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. Predictive and adaptive maps for long-term visual navigation in changing environments

    Mar 12, 2026Lucie Halodova, Eliska Dvorakova, Filip Majer +4Visual NavigationMap-Based Localization

    Artificial Intelligence Center, Czech Technical University · Technical University of Cartagena, Spain · Australian Centre for Robotic Vision, QUT

  2. VLM-Loc: Localization in Point Cloud Maps via Vision-Language Models

    Mar 10, 2026Shuhao Kang, Youqi Liao, Peijie Wang +5Map-Based Localization3D VLMs

    VCIP, CS, Nankai University · Wuhan University · CASIA +6

  3. Reconstructing Movement from Sparse Samples: Enhanced Spatio-Temporal Matching Strategies for Low-Frequency Data

    Mar 10, 2026Ali Yousefian, Arianna Burzacchi, Simone VantiniMap-Based Localization

    MOX, Department of Mathematics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milan, Italy · Modeling and Simulation of Socio-Technical Systems, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via Sommarive 18, 38123, Trento, Italy

  4. CFEAR-Teach-and-Repeat: Fast and Accurate Radar-only Localization

    Mar 6, 2026Maximilian Hilger, Daniel Adolfsson, Ralf Becker +2Robot LocalizationMap-Based Localization

    Chair of Perception for Intelligent Systems, Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany · Robot Navigation and Perception Lab of the AASS Research Center, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden · Bosch Rexroth, Germany

  5. VinePT-Map: Pole-Trunk Semantic Mapping for Resilient Autonomous Robotics in Vineyards

    Mar 5, 2026Giorgio Audrito, Mauro Martini, Alessandro Navone +2Semantic MappingAgricultural Robotics

    Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129, Torino, Italy.

  6. SSR: A Generic Framework for Text-Aided Map Compression for Localization

    Mar 4, 2026Mohammad Omama, Po-han Li, Harsh Goel +6Embedding CompressionMap-Based Localization

    The University of Texas at Austin · Honda Research Institute

  7. TreeLoc++: Robust 6-DoF LiDAR Localization in Forests with a Compact Digital Forest Inventory

    Mar 4, 2026Minwoo Jung, Dongjae Lee, Nived Chebrolu +3RoboticsLiDAR Localization

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea · Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India · Oxford Robotics Institute, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

  8. Uncertainty-Aware Hierarchical Re-Localization in OpenStreetMap via Semantic Alignment

    Mar 2, 2026Yuchen Zou, Xiao Hu, Lihuang Fang +1Map-Based Localization

    School of Automation Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710049, China · International Digital Economy Academy, Guangdong, Shenzhen 510085, China · Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

  9. Altitude-Adaptive Vision-Only Geo-Localization for UAVs in GPS-Denied Environments

    Feb 27, 2026Xingyu Shao, Mengfan He, Liangzheng Sun +2Cross-View Geo-LocalizationMap-Based Localization

    Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China · School of Instrumentation Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing 100192, China · School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China

  10. Topology-Aware Decision Making for Multi-Session Localization and Mapping

    Feb 19, 2026Lorenzo Montano-Olivan, Julio A. Placed, Luis Montano +1Simultaneous Localization and MappingMap-Based Localization

    Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón (ITA), María de Luna 7, Zaragoza, Spain

  11. Graph-Loc: Robust Graph-Based LiDAR Pose Tracking with Compact Structural Map Priors under Low Observability and Occlusion

    Feb 9, 2026Wentao Zhao, Yihe Niu, Zikun Chen +4LiDAR LocalizationMap-Based Localization

    School of Automation and Intelligent Sensing, Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China · School of Mathematical Sciences Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  12. GeoBridge++: Fact-Guided Geo-Semantic Bridging for Unified Cross-View Geo-Localization

    Dec 2, 2025Zixuan Song, Jing Zhang, Di Wang +6Cross-View Geo-LocalizationGeospatial Representation Learning

    College of Computer Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Symbolic Computation and Knowledge Engineering of Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China · Zhongguancun Academy, Beijing 100094, China · School of Computer Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China +1

  13. Self-Localizing MIMO Beam Mapping with Continuously Evolving Channel Memory

    Nov 21, 2025Wangqian Chen, Junting Chen, Shuguang CuiWireless CommunicationsWireless Localization

    School of Science and Engineering, and the Shenzhen Future Network of Intelligence Institute (FNii-Shenzhen), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China

  14. Terrain-Aided Navigation Without Raycasting: A Sliding Grid Approach for Point Cloud Processing

    Oct 7, 2025Abdülbaki Şanlan, Fatih Erol, Murad Abu-Khalaf +1Robot NavigationMap-Based Localization

    Aerospace Research Center, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Türkiye · Turkish Aerospace, Istanbul, Türkiye

  15. TOPO-Bench: An Open-Source Topological Mapping Evaluation Framework with Quantifiable Perceptual Aliasing

    Oct 5, 2025Jiaming Wang, Jizhuo Chen, Diwen Liu +1Benchmark DesignMap-Based Localization

  16. GSVisLoc: Generalizable Visual Localization for Gaussian Splatting Scene Representations

    Aug 25, 2025Fadi Khatib, Dror Moran, Guy Trostianetsky +3Visual Place RecognitionCamera Pose Estimation

    Weizmann Institute of Science · NVIDIA