Reserve Reading: Mobile Robotics CSC 290 (Fall 2000)

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Reserve Reading

All reserve reading is at the Carlson Library Circulation Desk.

BUT!!! The articles are also available on Voyager . Follow links to local catalog, course reserve, Use the menu to find C. Brown as instructor (or search otherwise) and click on the thing you want to read. They're in pdf. *poof* Works like a charm!

BUT!!! If you have problems, look under Note 8 and, especially, Note 13 of the 00/9/6 entry on Lane Hemaspaandra's course's home page: Here it is.

There you can find the two problems (firewall URL parsing and netscape proxy setup) that were causing some problems in using the library's electronic reseves system, and one can also find there info on what to do about

Reserve reading falls into three categories.

  1. Trade and scholarly books on robotics.
  2. Random papers from popular and academic journals.
  3. Student reports from the last version of CSC290.
I'd like to provide some overview or review remarks on these materials but I probably won't do as much as I should. You should go browse to see if you get ideas, and of course you should make use of resources like CD ROM indices, journals and proceedings in the stacks, Voyager, and your reference librarians Diane Cass and Sarada George.

Books

  1. Personal Robotics R. Raucci. Seems to be a rundown on commercially available kits, including Rug Warrior but not Mindstorms.
  2. Sensors for Mobile Robots H.R. Everett. Thorough look at many technologies and commercially available products for robot sensing. Includes theory, practice, products, and references.
  3. The Personal Robot Navigator Miller, Winkless, Bosworth. Seems kind of fun introductory look at robotics problems, and includes a diskette (I'm afraid it's for IBM-compatible M$ Evil-empire predatory monopolist computer systems) with a simulator for programming your own strategies for navigation around a room (sound familiar?).
  4. Build Your Own Robot! K. Lunt. Kind of an idiosyncratic look at robot construction, seemingly told from experience. They use the same board as the Rug Warrior and have various mechanical, sensor, control, and programming tips. Looks to take a bit of dedication since it's pretty detailed and the problem might be applying the general principles to your situation. On the bright side, at this level of detail there could be directly-liftable techniques, tricks, and even code!
  5. Behavior-based Robotics R. Arkin. Preprint of this book (now in print). One man's (well, includes his advisor, their various students, and other disciples) theory of how to organize robot sensing and behavior control. Pretty scholarly but accessible, worth a look especially if you're interested in higher-level organizational principles of sensori-motor systems, with possible relevance to biological systems.
  6. Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Robots Kortenkamp, Bonasso, Murphy. One of my favorites, missing from my shelves at present. Worth buying ($42 from Amazon.com); principles, detailed algorithms, and descriptions of actual prize-winning robots and their sensing and control algorithms from various worldwide robot contests.

Previous Work in CSC290

I really should comment on these but I won't. I'll just say that none of these is perfect, all have something to recommend them. Obviously, I have a higher standard for, and expect much more from, you current gifted and motivated students than I did the last gaggle of no-talent, slacking losers (dearly as I loved them).
  1. Final Report: Herr et al
  2. Final Report: Buchanan et al
  3. Final Report: Etienne et al
  4. Simulator Report: Etienne et al

Random Papers

  1. Nelson: Visual homing. How to learn how to get home using vision.
  2. Maes and Brooks: Using Brooks subsumption architecture to learn motor coordination....an OK intro to the subsumption architecture.
  3. Brooks: Intelligence without reason. Classic explication of his highly influential philosophy and method for mobile robot programming and hardware organization.
  4. Brooks: A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. More detailed exploration of the mobile-robot-programming consequences of the Intelligence without Reason paper. Some good technical hints, very influential work.
  5. Connell: another Brooks disciple. How to represent only the relevant part of your robot's world.
  6. Pop 'tronics Design your own robot. Popular press hints.
  7. MIT Roach Motel: Popular press research overview, some details.. how to simulate roach-like behaviors like avoiding light.
  8. Artificial Fishes etc. Terzopoulos et al. (Artificial Life) Why build a robot when you can simulate one? Award-winning work and subject of introductory video in 290.
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Mobile Robotics Page

This page is maintained by CB.

Last update: 3.13.98.