Robotics

Code:

EIC0071

Acronym:

ROBO

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Artificial Intelligence

Instance: 2008/2009 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~lpreis/robo2008
Responsible unit:	Department of Informatics Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIEIC	29	Syllabus since 2006/2007	4	-	6	56	162
			5

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

To understand the basic concepts of Robotics and the context of Artificial Intelligence in Robotics.
To study methods of perception and sensorial interpretation (emphasizing computer vision), which allow to create precise world estates and mobile robots’ control methods.
To study the methods which allow mobile robots to navigate in familiar or unfamiliar environments using Planning and Navigation algorithms.
To study the fundamentals of cooperative robotics and of the robots teams construction.
To analyze the main national and international robotic competitions, the more realistic robot simulators and the more advanced robotic platforms available in the market (emphasizing the robots AIBO ERS210A and ERS-7).

Program

1. Introduction
1.1) Artificial Intelligence
1.2) Basic concepts of Robotics
1.3) Artificial Intelligence in Robotics
1.4) History, Evolution, and Current Trends in Intelligent Robotics

2. Architectures for Robotic Agents
2.1) Reactive, Deliberative, Hybrid
2.2) Belief, Desire and Intentions (BDI)
2.3) Cooperative Architectures

3. Perception and Sensorial Interpretation
3.1) Proximity sensors: Sonar or ultrasonic, infrared (IR), touch, light and feel sensors
3.2) Computer Vision: CCD cameras, Digital Image, Colour Models, Image Processing, Image Analysis
3.3) Odometry, Rotation and Compass Sensors
3.4) Sensor Fusion Techniques

4. Localization and Mapping
4.1) Creation, representation and updating of World States.
4.2) Markov and Gaussian Localization
4.3) Grid and Monte-Carlo Localization
4.4) Mapping: Occupancy Grid and SLAM
4.5) World Exploration

5. Mobile robots control: locomotion and action.
5.1) Locomotion modes
5.2) Gears, Speed, Torque
5.3) Robot locomotion simulation

6. Plan Automatic Generation:
6.1) Means-Ends Analysis, Linear and non-linear planning
6.2) Planning and Learning: Plan generality

7. Navigation
7.1) Algorithms of navigation in known/unknown environments
7.2) Voronoi Diagrams
7.3) A* and D* Algorithms
7.4) Cellular Decomposition

8. Cooperative Robotics
8.1) Introduction to the cooperation between robots for teamwork
8.2) Joint Intentions, TAEMS, Role-Based, Social Rules
8.3) Communication and Mutual Modeling
8.4) Locker-Room, Strategical Coordination, Partial Hierarchical

9. Applications
9.1) National and International Robotic Competitions: RoboCup, RoboOlympics, Fira Cup, DARPA Grand-Challenge, Portuguese Robotics Open, Autonomous driving, Micro-Mouse (Micro-Rato) and fire fighting Robots
9.2) Robotic simulators: Soccerserver 2D and 3D, RoboCup Rescue, Virtual Rescue, Ciber-Mouse
9.3) Robotic Platforms: MindStorms, ERS210A e ERS-7 (Sony Aibos): Hardware, Software Architectures and Robotic Programming Languages.

Mandatory literature

Howie Choset, Kevin M. Lynch, Seth Hutchinson, George Kantor, Wolfram Burgard, Lydia E. Kavraki, Sebastian Thrun ; Principles of Robot Motion : Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations , Bradford Book, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussets, London England, 2005. ISBN: 0-262-03327-5
R. Arkin; Behavior-based Robotics , MIT Press , 1998
Robin R. Murphy; An Introduction to AI Robotics , Bradford Book, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussets, London England, 2000. ISBN: 0-262-13383-0
Russell, Stuart; Artificial intelligence. ISBN: 0-13-360124-2

Complementary Bibliography

RoboCup Series (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 e 2003, 2004 e 2005), Springer, LNAI
Sebastian Thrun, Wolfram Burgard, Dieter Fox ; Probabilistic Robotics, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussets, London England, 2005. ISBN: 0-262-20162-3
Manuais dos Simuladores: Soccerserver, RoboCupRescue e Ciber-Rato
Manuais de OPEN-R e Documentação das Plataformas ERS210A e ERS7, 2005

Teaching methods and learning activities

Exposition with interaction in theoretical classes.
Use of simulators for mobile robots navigation (“ciber-rato”).
Assignments on cooperative robotics (“robosoccer” and “Robocup rescue”).
Exploration of mobile robotic platforms (ERS210A e ERS7 – robôs cães - Sony AIBOs).
Challenge students to higher level learning.
Detailed feedback given to students about the quality of their research work and learning process.

Software

Simuladores Soccer-Server (2D e 3D)
Linguagem de Programação: C++
R-CODE SDK (ERS7)
OPEN-R SDK (ERS210A e ERS7)
Simulador RoboCup Rescue
Simulador Ciber-Rato

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Subject Classes	Participação presencial	54,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Eligibility for exams

Continous evaluation (including assignment): minimum grade to attain frequency – 30%

Calculation formula of final grade

Distributed Evaluation:
Final Exam: 50%
Final Project: 50%
(The approval implies the need of a grade equal or superior to 30% in the exam)

Examinations or Special Assignments

Exam + Assignments.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Exam + Assignment

Classification improvement

By means of exam or assignment

Observations

All course materials will be given to students in english.