CS494/529: Schedule/Readings/Notes

CS494/529: Autonomous Mobile Robots

Schedule/Readings/Notes

Fall 2011


Course home page Syllabus Schedule/Readings/Notes Assignments

Subject to change. Check back frequently for updates.

Last updated: Nov. 29, 2011

Date Topics Lecture Notes/Assigned Readings
Homework/Project Assignments
Thurs. 8/18 Course introduction, overview.

Lecture Slides (Aug. 18)

Assigned reading (handed out in class) on artificial intelligence.
RBD (READ-BY-DATE): BOC (Beginning of Class) Thurs., 8/25/11

 
Tues. 8/23 Overview of Challenges

Lecture Slides (Aug. 23)

 
Thurs. 8/25 (Abbreviated) History of Robotics

Introduction to Player/Stage robot simulator

Lecture Slides (Aug. 25)

Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 13-56 (on locomotion).
RBD = BOC 8/30/11.

Paper introducing Player

Player/Stage Getting Started Guide (UTK-specific)

Player/Stage Documentation

More Player/Stage Documentation, by Jenny Owen

Assigned: Mini-Assignment 1

Due: Tues., Sept. 6, 14:10:00

Tues. 8/30 Robot Locomotion

Lecture Slides (Aug. 30) (from textbook authors)

Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 57-77 (on mobile robot kinematics, Part I).
RBD = BOC 9/1/11.

 
Thurs. 9/01 Mobile Robot Kinematics
   Representing robot position
   Kinematic model of fixed standard wheel
   Kinematic model of steered standard wheel

Lecture Slides (Sept. 01) (from textbook authors)

Assigned reading, Siegwart, pgs. 77-99 (on mobile robot kinematics, Part II).
RBD: BOC 9/06/11

 
Tues. 9/06 Mobile Robot Kinematics (con't.)
   Robot kinematic constraints
   Mobile robot maneuverability
(see slides from Sept. 1)

Assigned reading (handed out in class) on Braitenburg's Vehicles.
RBD: BOC 9/08/11

Assigned: Assignment 2

Due: Tues., Sept. 20, 14:10:00

Thurs. 9/08 Mobile Robot Kinematics (con't.)
   Mobile robot workspace
   Kinematic motion control

Introduction Mobile Robot Perception

(see slides from Sept. 1)

Lecture Slides (Sept. 08) (from textbook authors)

 
Tues. 9/13 Mobile Robot Perception
  Classification of sensors
  Sensor characteristics
  Survey of mobile robot sensors

(see slides from Sept. 8)

 
Thurs. 9/15 Mobile Robot Perception (con't.)
  Uncertainty
  Line extraction from range data

(see slide 60 from Sept. 8)

Lecture Slides (Sept. 20) (see especially slides 41 to end)

Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 242-263 (on laser line extraction).

RBD: BOC 10/04/11.

Assigned: Assignment 3

Due: Tues., Oct. 11, 13:00:00

Tues. 9/20 Class subgroup I: Lab in Claxton 105 (hydra), getting started with NAOs

Class subgroup II: Lecture in Claxton 205: Using Kinect for human activity recognition (guest lecturer: Hao Zhang)

Lecture slides on Kinect Assignment for class subgroup I: NAO Getting Started Guide
Thurs. 9/22 Class subgroup I: Lecture in Claxton 205: Using Kinect for human activity recognition (guest lecturer: Hao Zhang)

Class subgroup II: Lab in Claxton 105 (hydra), getting started with NAOs

Lecture slides on Kinect Assignment for class subgroup II: NAO Getting Started Guide
Tues. 9/27 Make-up NAO lab (in Claxton 105) for those who didn't finish last week

Others: no class

   
Thurs. 9/29 Fall Break. No class.    
Tues. 10/04 Path Planning
   Metric path planning
   Configuration space
   Meadow maps
   Voronoi diagrams

Lecture Slides (Oct. 4)

Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 369-385 (on planning and navigation).
Assigned reading: Murphy, pgs. 351-367 (on metric path planning).

RBD: BOC 10/06/11

 
Thurs. 10/06 Path Planning (con't.)
   Grid representations
   A* planner
(see slides from Oct. 4)  
Tues. 10/11 Path Planning (con't.)
   Visibility graphs
   Exact cell decomposition
   Wavefront path planner
Lecture slides (Path planning II, Oct. 11)

* Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 386-409 (more on planning and navigation).
* Assigned reading: Murphy, pgs. 123-147 (on potential fields).
* Assigned reading: Murphy, pgs. 378-386 (on sonar sensor model).

RBD: BOC 10/13/11.
 
Thurs. 10/13 Potential Fields

Empirical Evaluation of Robot Systems

Lecture slides (Potential fields, Oct. 13)

Lecture slides (Empirical eval., Oct. 13)

 
Tues. 10/18 Class subgroup I: Lab in Claxton 205, Random walk with NAOs

Class subgroup II: Lecture in Claxton 105 (hydra): Obstacle avoidance (guest lecturer: Tony Zhang)

Lecture slides (Oct. 18/20) Assignment for class subgroup I: NAO Lab Assignment #2
Thurs. 10/20 Class subgroup I: Lecture in Claxton 105 (hydra): Obstacle avoidance (guest lecturer: Tony Zhang)

Class subgroup II: Lab in Claxton 205, Random walk with NAOs

Lecture slides (Oct. 18/20) Assignment for class subgroup II: NAO Lab Assignment #2
Tues. 10/25 Class subgroup I: Lab in Claxton 205, Random walk with NAOs (con't.)

Class subgroup II: Lecture in Claxton 105 (hydra), Empirical Evaluation of Robot Systems

Lecture slides (Empirical eval., con't. from Oct. 13)  
Thurs. 10/27 Class subgroup I: Lecture in Claxton 105 (hydra), Empirical Evaluation of Robot Systems

Class subgroup II: Lab in Claxton 205, Random walk with NAOs (con't.)

  Lecture slides (Empirical eval., con't. from Oct. 13)  
Tues. 11/01 Robot Localization Lecture slides (Localization I, Nov. 1)

* Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 265-270, 278-284, 296-316 (localization).

RBD: BOC 11/3/11.

* Assigned reading: Siegwart, pgs. 322-348 (more localization).

RBD: BOC 11/15/11.

 
Thurs. 11/03 Robot Localization (con't.) (see slides from Nov. 1) Final project assigned.
Tues. 11/08 Class subgroup I-A: NAO Lab in Claxton 205 (Final project work time)

Class subgroups I-B, II-A: Lecture in Claxton 202, Multi-Robot Path Planning and Motion Coordination (guest lecture, Tony Zhang)

Class subgroup II-B: Work independently on Predator/Prey final project

Lecture slides (Multi-Robot Path Planning, Nov. 8, 10)  
Tues. 11/10 Class subgroup I-A, II-B: Lecture in Claxton 202, Multi-Robot Path Planning and Motion Coordination (guest lecture, Tony Zhang)

Class subgroup I-B: NAO Lab in Claxton 205 (Final project work time)

Class subgroup II-A: Work independently on Predator/Prey final project

Lecture slides (Multi-Robot Path Planning, Nov. 8, 10)  
Tues. 11/15 Robot Localization II, and Mapping Lecture slides (Localization II and Mapping, Nov. 15)

* Assigned reading: S. Thrun, Toward Robotic Cars

RBD: BOC 11/17/11.

 
Thurs. 11/17 Unmanned vehicles
   DARPA Grand Challenge
   DARPA Urban Challenge
   
Tues. 11/22 Unmanned vehicles, con't.
   Google Driverless Car
Assigned readings:
Google blog article
New York Times article
IEEE Spectrum article on Google driverless car
New York Times article on legislation
IEEE Spectrum article on Nevada bill
RBD: BOC 11/29/11
 
Thurs. 11/24 No class; Happy Turkey Day!    
Tues. 11/29 Space Exploration Rovers
   Sojourner
   Spirit
   Opportunity
   Curiosity
Assigned reading:
IEEE Spectrum article on Curiosity
 
Thurs. 12/08, 14:45-16:45 (final exam slot) Final project competitions