So I've been busy with my MSc
This is the thread's initial revision.
Sorry I haven't had that much to contribute lately, but I've been doing real work instead ;-) Anyway, I thought you might like to take a peak at a small by-product of my work over the last year and a half - this is a map of one of the floors of the building next to (and above) my lab (caution! 4813x4168 image!)
This is all done with kD-Trees and a bunch of linear algebra on the software side, the hardware side uses a Hokuyo laser scanner and an Inertial Measurement Unit (integrated gyro, accelerometer and 3D compass) all mounted on the top of a radio control car. The map can be built in real-time and shows me a nice position of the car on it as it drives around, so I can easily tell what still needs mapping =)
I hope to be back with something to liven up the rumble soon!