CIS 466 Introduction to Mobile Robotics - Course Syllabus

 

         Instructor Information

Dr. Ramprasad Bala

Email: r.bala@umassd.edu
Office: Computer and Information Science - Dion Building 308A


Office Hours:
MW 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, F 12:00 pm 1:00 pm.

Additional hours: by appointment

 

Phone:(508) 999-8259Fax: (508) 999-9144
Homepage:
http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~rbalasubrama/

 

TA: Daniel Savaria

TA Hours : M 3 - 4 and W 2 - 4

TA Office : DION 307

 

 

Course Information

Lecture: T R 9:30AM-10:45AM (Dion # 101)
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Course Homepage: http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~rbalasubrama/CIS466/Fall08/

 

 

 

Course Description

A broad overview of robotic paradigms and architectures. This course will study various issues related to robotics from industrial manipulators to Urban Search and Rescue (USAR). The influence of biological systems on Robotics will be presented. The three fundamental paradigms ?hierarchical, reactive and hybrid will be presented. Multiple representative architectures for each paradigm will be discussed. Sensors, their properties and their role in robotics will be discussed. Computer Vision, as related to Robotics, will be presented. The course will have a strong hands-on practical component including building robots and testing the various architectures through assignments.

 

 

Prerequisites & Requirements

  • Pre-requisite: CIS 360 ?Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Requirements:
    • Ability to undertake independent design projects.
    • Consistent access to the Internet to get the course material and announcements.

Course Objectives

The objective of this course is to present students with:

1.     a historical perspective, current advances and future work in mobile robotics

2.     the concepts and limitations of teleoprations

3.     influences of biological systems in robotics

4.       the three robotic paradigms ?span class=MsoPageNumber> hierarchical, reactive and hybrid with sample architectures

5.       sensors, issues of path planning, map-making and navigation

6.     examples of successful robotic ventures such as the mars sojourner.

Course Outcomes

Upon the completion of the course the students will:

  1. have an understanding of various robotic paradigms
  2. have an understanding of various sensors used in a robot
  3. have the knowledge to select an appropriate architecture given a problem domain
  4. have worked with robots and have written software to have a robot complete a task-based goal

 


Textbooks

Required textbook: An Introduction to AI Robotics, By Robin R. Murphy ISBN-10: 0-262-13383-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-262-13383-8 MIT Press
.

 

 

Course Policies

General Policy:
Actively participating in the class and lab, and carrying out the assignments are the best way for the students to accomplish the objectives of this course. There will be weekly programming assignments. There will be one comprehensive final exam on the last day of the course and additional quizzes if necessary.

In this course students will have the opportunity to access its material through the course web site. You should be prepared to access the site regularly in order to access the course material and to check any announcements that will be regularly posted.

I expect that you are taking this course to learn and to do the required work by yourself. Plagiarism is not acceptable and is not tolerated under any circumstances. All work turned in must be your own work (no collaboration is allowed). Students who violate this rule may get a penalty that ranges from dropping one letter grade for the course, to getting an F as the course grade. Also, the student who offers his/her work to another student will get the same penalty.

Homework policy:

Homework assignments must be submitted on or before its due date and time. Solutions must be turned into the Learning Portal. Late assignments lose 20% credit per day they are late. Exceptions will be made only under exceptional circumstances, and then only with an appropriate written excuse (e.g. a note from a medical doctor)

Exams policy:
Final exam will be in-class and closed book. No make-up exam will be given to any missed exam except for cases of serious illness. You must provide written explanation from a medical doctor.

Quiz policy:
Quizzes will be in-class. They will be closed book. Quizzes will not be announced. Any quiz that is missed will receive zero credit - no exceptions.

Attendance policy:
Attendance and active participation in classes and labs are essential part of the professional education process, because adults learn by sharing experience with classmates and instructors. For this course, regular attendance is necessary for you to achieve the necessary progress needed to learn the course concepts. You must give me, in advance, a legitimate-written excuse for missing any class or lab. Consistent-unexcused failure to attend could result in getting a grade of F.

 


Tentative Course Outline

Week

Topic

Chapter

1

Historical perspective of robotics : from mechanical devices, industrial manipulators to planetary rovers

1

 

2

From Teleoperation to Autonomy

1

3

Hierarchical Paradigm and Architectures

2

4

Biological Foundations of the Reactive Paradigm

3

5

Behaviors and Schema Theory

3

5

Reactive Paradigm

4

6

Architectures of the Reactive Paradigm ?Subsumption and Pfields

4

7

Implementation of behavior, schema theory and the reactive paradigm

4,5

8

Sensors

6

9

Vision sensors computer vision algorithms for robotics

 

10

Common sensing techniques for the reactive paradigm

6

11

The hybrid deliberative/reactive paradigm

 

7

12

Sample architectures and implementation issues of the hybrid paradigm

7

13

Multi-agent systems, cooperating robots and introduction to swarm architectures

8

14

Path planning, navigation

9

15

Navigation, map-making

10

16

Future of robotics, final project demonstrations

 

 

 

Important Dates

         Tuesday, September 2 Fall classes begin

         Monday, September 8 Last day to add/drop/audit

         Monday, October 6 Last day to file pass/fail

         Monday, October 13 Columbus Day: no classes

         Wednesday, October 15 Follow Monday's schedule

         Monday, November 10 Last day to withdraw from a class

         Tuesday, November 11 Veterans' Day: no classes

         Wednesday, November 26 Thanksgiving recess begins

         Friday, December 12 Fall classes end


 


Grading Policies

 

 

 Homework Assignments

35%

Exams 2

30%

Final Project

20%

Final Exam (Tuesday Dec 16th 8:00AM ? 11:00AM)

15%

 

 

The final grade will depend on the points that you have earned in the course of the semester. While I would like to allow myself some flexibility in grading, the following may give you an idea about my expectations:

90-100

A- , A , A+

80-89

B- , B , B+

70-79

C- , C , C+

60-69

D- , D , D+

Below 60

F

 

 

 

 

Note

If you have particular needs in order to complete this course, such as special seating, note taking, or examination conditions, please let me know as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations can be made.

 

 

I look forward to working with you!

Good luck