CS494/529: Schedule/Readings/Notes

CS494/529: Autonomous Mobile Robots

Schedule/Readings/Notes

Fall 2014


Course home page Syllabus Schedule/Readings/Notes Assignments Piazza Discussions

Subject to change. Check back frequently for updates.

Last updated: Dec. 1, 2014

Date Topics Lecture Notes/Assigned Readings
Homework/Project Assignments
Thurs. 8/21 Course introduction, overview.

Lecture Slides (Aug. 21)

Ch. 1 of text

NSF Special Report on Robotics

Assigned: Homework 1

Due: Thurs., Aug. 28, 11:10:00

Tues. 8/26 Overview of Challenges

Brief History

Lecture Slides (Aug. 26, #1)

Lecture Slides (Aug. 26, #2)

Ch. 2 of text

 
Thurs. 8/28 Locomotion:
      Legged robots
      Wheeled robots

Lecture Slides (Aug. 28)

Ch. 2.1-2.3 of text

Assigned: Homework 2

Due: Thurs., Sept. 4, 11:10:00

Tues. 9/2 Locomotion:
      Wheeled robots (con't.)
      Aerial robots

(see also lecture slides from last class)

Lecture Slides on Aerial Robots (Sept. 2)

Ch. 2.4

 
Thurs. 9/4 Mobile Robot Kinematics:
      Representing robot position
      Kinematic model of fixed standard wheel
      Kinematic model of steered standard wheel
      Robot kinematic constraints

Lecture Slides on Kinematics (Sept. 4)

Ch. 3

 
Tues. 9/9 Mobile Robot Kinematics (con't.):
      Mobile robot maneuverability

(see lecture slides from last class)

Ch. 3 (con't.)

Assigned: Homework 3

    HW 3 Reading list

Due: Tues., Sept. 16, 11:10:00

No late labs accepted

Thurs. 9/11 Mobile Robot Kinematics (con't.):
      Mobile robot maneuverability (con't.)
      Mobile robot workspace
      Kinematic motion control

(see lecture slides from 9/4)

Ch. 3 (con't.)

 
Tues. 9/16 Instructor on research travel

HW-3: Influential Papers Presentations #1

   
Thurs. 9/18 Instructor on research travel

HW-3: Influential Papers Presentations #2

   
Tues. 9/23 Wrap-up Mobile Robot Kinematics

Discuss Player/Stage simulator

Path Planning:
   Metric path planning

Lecture Slides (Sept. 23)

Ch. 6.1-6.3

Additional reading on metric path planning:
Murphy, pgs. 351-367

 
Thurs. 9/25 Path Planning (con't.):
   Configuration space
   Meadow maps
   Voronoi diagrams
(see slides from Sept. 23)

Ch. 6.3

Assigned: Homework 4

Due: Thurs., Oct. 2, 11:10:00

Tues. 9/30 Path Planning (con't.):
   Grid representations
   A* planner
   Visibility graphs
   Exact cell decomposition
   Wavefront path planner
(see slides from Sept. 23)

Lecture Slides (Sept. 30)

Ch. 6.3

Additional reading on potential fields:
Murphy, pgs. 122-147

 
Thurs. 10/02 Path Planning (con't.):
   Randomized graph search

Lecture Slides (Oct 2)

Ch. 6.3

Additional reading on Braitenberg vehicles (for HW 5)

Assigned: Homework 5

Due: Thurs., Oct. 14, 11:10:00

Tues. 10/07 Potential Fields

Lecture Slides (Oct 7)

Ch. 6.3

 
Thurs. 10/09 Instructor on travel to Grace Hopper Conf.

Scribbler robots distributed

Scribblers Getting Started Guide

Calico Myro reference manual for programming Scribbler

(older) CPython Myro reference manual
for programming Scribbler

 
Tues. 10/14 Obstacle Avoidance:
  Bug 1
  Bug 2
  Sonar sensor model

Lecture Slides (Oct 14)

Ch. 6.4

Additional reading on sonar sensor models:
Murphy, pgs. 378-386

Assigned: Homework 6

Due: Tues., Oct. 28, 11:10:00

Thurs. 10/16 No class; fall break!    
Tues. 10/21 Obstacle Avoidance (con't.):
  Vector Field Histogram
  Curvature velocity techniques
  Dynamic window approaches

Introduction to Mobile Robot Perception

(See slides from Oct. 14)

Lecture Slides (Oct 21)

Ch. 4

 
Thurs. 10/23 No class; COE Engineering Day    
Tues. 10/28 Mobile Robot Perception (con't)
  Classification of sensors
  Sensor characteristics
  Survey of mobile robot sensors
(see slides from Oct. 21)

Ch. 4.1

Assigned: Homework 7

Due: Tues., Nov. 11, 11:10:00

Thurs. 10/30 Mobile Robot Perception (con't.)
  Line extraction from range data
Lecture Slides (Oct 30)

Ch. 4.1.3,
Ch. 4.7

 
Tues. 11/04 Mobile Robot Perception (con't.)
  Line extraction from range data (con't.)
  Using Kinect

(see slides from Oct. 30)

Lecture Slides (Nov 4)

 
Thurs. 11/06 Combining robot behaviors

Navigation and overall architectures

Lecture Slides (Nov 6)

Ch. 6.5

 
Tues. 11/11 Navigation and overall architectures

Multi-Robot Systems

(see slides from Nov. 6)

Lecture Slides (Nov 11)

Additional readings on (1) multi-robot path planning (Parker 2009), (2) multi-robot systems (Parker 2008), distributed via email.

Assigned: Homework 8

Due: Tues., Nov. 18, 11:10:00

Thurs. 11/13 Multi-Robot Systems (con't.) (see slides from Nov. 11)  
Tues. 11/18 Brief Overview of Computer Vision

Localization and Mapping

Lecture Slides, vision (Nov 18)

Lecture Slides, localization (Nov 18)

Ch. 4.2-4.4

Ch. 5

Assigned: Homework 9

Due: Tues., Nov. 25, 11:10:00

 

Thurs. 11/20 Localization and Mapping (con't.) Lecture Slides (Nov 20)

Ch. 5

Assigned: Homework 10

Due: Monday, Dec. 8, 10:00:00

No late homeworks accepted

Tues. 11/25 Localization and Mapping (con't.) (see slides from Nov 20)

Ch. 5

 
Thurs. 11/27 Happy Turkey Day! (no class)    
Tues. 12/02 Special guest robot visit

Course wrap-up

   
Mon. 12/08
10:15AM - 12:15PM
Regular Final Exam Time
No class, but we will meet for projects