For a mobile robot to be truly autonomous, it must solve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem. We develop a new metaheuristic algorithm called Simulated Tom Thumb (STT), based on the detailed adventure of the clever Tom Thumb and advances in researches relating to path planning based on potential functions. Investigations show that it is very promising and could be seen as an optimization of the powerful solution of SLAM with data association and learning capabilities. STT outperform JCBB. The performance is 100 % match.