I'd like to instruct my LEGO Mindstorms EV3 robot navigate to a defined place in the room ("return home").
With the lack of GPS capabilities, what other possibilities exist?
Maybe directing the robot with IR Beacon?
I would use the IR Beacon that's shipped with the Home Edition of the LEGO Mindstorms Education EV3.
The Beacon is integrated within the IR remote control (the big horizontal button at the top). The LEGO Education programming language (EV3-G) has a block to get the distance and angle from the IR beacon. So it is possible to search for a beacon and move your robot into the specific direction.
If I remember correctly you can use four different channels with a IR remote control. So it should be possible to use four different IR Beacons simultaneously.
I think that's the easiest solution you can achieve with not so much effort.