  This paper introduces an Online Localisation and Colored Mesh Reconstruction
(OLCMR) ROS perception architecture for ground exploration robots aiming to
perform robust Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (SLAM) in challenging
unknown environments and provide an associated colored 3D mesh representation
in real time. It is intended to be used by a remote human operator to easily
visualise the mapped environment during or after the mission or as a
development base for further researches in the field of exploration robotics.
The architecture is mainly composed of carefully-selected open-source ROS
implementations of a LiDAR-based SLAM algorithm alongside a colored surface
reconstruction procedure using a point cloud and RGB camera images projected
into the 3D space. The overall performances are evaluated on the Newer College
handheld LiDAR-Vision reference dataset and on two experimental trajectories
gathered on board of representative wheeled robots in respectively urban and
countryside outdoor environments. Index Terms: Field Robots, Mapping, SLAM,
Colored Surface Reconstruction
