[GSoC 2026] Project #7 – LiDAR + IMU + GNSS Localization & Map Server Operators

[Galaxylee319]

Hi dora-rs community,

I am Galaxylee319 (GitHub: https://github.com/Galaxylee319/),
and I am applying for GSoC 2026 to work on Project #7:
SLAM and Localization Package.

My Proposed Focus

After reviewing the project requirements and discussing with
the community, I would like to focus the core deliverables on:

• Map Server Operator — load/serve PGM+YAML maps to other
  DORA operators; runtime map switching
• Localization Operator — NDT scan-matching against prior map,
  fused with IMU via UKF, with optional GNSS constraint for
  long-range drift correction

SLAM mapping is scoped as an extended goal (time permitting).

Why This Scope

I am currently building a PCL-based LiDAR + IMU + GNSS
loosely-coupled system in my own engineering project, so I have
hands-on experience with NDT, UKF pre-integration, and GNSS
fusion directly applicable to these two operators.

Questions for Mentors

1. For the Map Server, do you prefer the map to be published
   continuously or only on request? Any preference on the
   Arrow message schema?

2. For localization, is NDT (via ndt_omp or PCL native) the
   preferred front-end, or would you like me to also support
   AMCL-style particle filter as an alternative?

3. Is there an existing simulation environment or rosbag dataset
   in DORA_NAV I should use for validation, or should I set up
   Gazebo + KITTI independently?

Looking forward to your feedback. I will send a proposal draft
to gsoc@dora-rs.org this week as well.

Best regards,
Galaxylee319