In this paper we address the problem of autonomous navigation seen from the neuroscience and the robotics point of view. A new topological mapping system is presented. It combines local features (i.e. visual and distance cues) in a unique structure – the “fingerprint of a place” - that results in a consistent, compact and distinctive representation. Overall, the results suggest that a process of fingerprint matching can efficiently determine the orientation, the location within the environment, and the construction of the map, and may play a role in the emerging of spatial representations in the hippocampus.