Course Description

1. Prerequisite: CS 3600 or equivalent or instructor's permission

    A survey of autonomous robotics as viewed from a variety of disciplines and as applied in artificial intelligence. Neuroscience and cognitive psychology are studied as a source of paradigms for machine autonomy.  Various cybernetic issues will be explored from a multi-disciplinary vantage point.  High-level computer vision and other sensor modalities and their application to intelligent robotics will also be studied within this context.

2. Class structure

    The subject matter of this course is often controversial and hopefully equally stimulating. It is a goal to have lively discussions with various interpretations of the subject matter. We are dealing with approaches to problems that will hopefully provide solutions in extremely difficult task domains. Consequently your classroom participation is essential.
    There will be two meetings per week (Tuesday and Thursday), starting promptly at 8:05. Your attendance, of course, is mandatory as is your participation in classroom discussions.
    You are required to complete all assigned readings prior to class and you must be prepared to present or discuss the material contained herein.

3. Student evaluation (grading)

    As mentioned earlier, classroom attendance and participation are crucial to passing this course.  You will be evaluated after each class regarding your contributions to the discussion and your knowledge of the subject matter derived from the readings (10%). In addition, there will be at least one presentation involving each student on material relevant to the course (20%). The remainder of your grade will be derived from a term project and homework (30%), and the midterm (20%) and final exam (20%).
    Students are expected to adhere to the Honor Code in this class. All work is to be accomplished independently unless expressly stated in writing otherwise (e.g., as in a team project). Do not plagiarize from any sources including the internet. Collaboration on other homework and/or take home exams is not permitted.

4. Readings

    The texts for this course are: Behavior-based Robotics, Arkin, MIT Press, 1998 and Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots, Siegwart and Nourbakhsh, MIT Press, SECOND EDITION, 2011.

            Available Robots for Project

            Sample Midterm

            Term Project

Course Syllabus
 

* Denotes student presentation

    Subject to change

(Arkin) = Behavior-Based Robotics, MIT Press 1998.

(Siegwart)  - Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots, Siegwart, Nourbakhsh, and Scaramuzza, 2^nd Edition, MIT Press, 2011.
   

Links

The Mobile Robot Laboratory homepage
MissionLab software home page
TeamBots software home page
Borg Lab
RIM@GT