University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Computer and Information Science

CIS564 : Mobile Robotics

Spring 2009

Course Syllabus

Instructor Information

Dr. Ramprasad Bala

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

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

Additional hours: by appointment

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

Course Information

Lecture: M W 5:00 – 6:15PM (Dion # 105)
Course Homepage: http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~rbalasubrama/CIS564/S09/

Course Description

The theory, software and hardware for autonomous mobile robots. Reactive behavior–based deliberative goal-based, and utility based robotic architectures will be presented. Control and planning under bounded resources will be covered. Interaction with environment using sensors and actuators, robot kinematics and dynamics, reinforcement and evolutionary learning techniques for intelligent robots, interaction of competing and cooperating multi-robot systems will be presented. Various applications of mobile robots will be explored.

Prerequisites & Requirements

Pre-requisite: Graduate Standing
Requirements:

Ability to undertake substantial independent design projects.
Consistent access to the Internet to get the course material and announcements.

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

Topics Chapter

Teleoperation 1

Architecture: types 2.1,4.1,7

Architecture: STRIPS 2.2

Architecture: other problems

Biological: schema theory 3

Biological: affordances Biological Foundations 3

Reactive: subsumption 4

Reactive: potential fields 4 Reactive Paradigm

Combining behaviors 5.5

Combining behaviors

Combining behaviors Potential Fields

Sensing 6

Locomotion

Design of robotic systems 5 Design

Multi-agents 8

Navigation PII Multiagent systems

Topological path planning 9

Metric path planning: representation 10

Metric path planning: algorithms 10

Learning

Project Presentations

HRI and ethics HRI

Important Dates

Test 1 February 23rd
Test 2 April 6th
Test 3 May 19th 3:00-6:00PM

Friday, Jan 30 - last day to add/drop
Monday, February 16 - no class
Tuesday, February 17 – Monday’s Schedule
Friday, February 27 - last day to pass/fail
Friday, April 10 - last day to withdraw. Tuesday, May 16 - last class

Grading Policies

Homework Assignments	50%
Exams	50%

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