Fall 2002
Class 1: Thursday, August 22
Assignment 1 (Out: August 22; Due: Sept. 3): Download Nomad200 Simulator. Note that this simulator runs under Solaris Unix (i.e., on a Sun SparcStation). Follow instructions from class handout (with typos corrected) to install this software and to complete the assigned exercises.
Class 2: Tuesday, August 27
Additional Reading : Pages 1-20, Behavior-Based Robotics, R. C. Arkin, MIT Press, 1998. (Handed out in class.)
Class 3: Thursday, August 29
Additional Reading : Pages 337-366, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Russell and Norvig, Prentice-Hall, 1995. (Handed out in class.)
Class 4: Tuesday, September 3
Assignment 2 (Out: September 3; Due: September 12): Follow instructions from class handout. Here is the map map3.txt, that you'll need for Exercise 3.
Class 5: Thursday, September 5
Clarification for Assignment 2: Please review this file for clarifications on homework.
Class 6: Tuesday, September 10
Class 7: Thursday, September 12
Additional Reading : "A Robot that Walks: Emergent Behaviors from a Carefully Evolved Network", Rodney A. Brooks, MIT AI Lab Memo 1091, February 1989. (Handed out in class.)
Class 8: Tuesday, September 17
Class 9: Thursday, September 19
EXAM #1. In class, closed notes.
Class 10-11: Tuesday, September 24
Assignment 3 (Out: September 24; Due: October 8): Follow instructions from class handout. Here is the map map4.txt, that you'll need for this assignment.
Final Project (Out: September 24; Project Proposal Due: (on or before) October 31; Final Project Due (extended): November 26): Follow instructions from class handout.
Thursday, September 26
No class due to instructor's travel. See makeup class notes on September 24th.
Tuesday, October 1
No class due to instructor's travel. See makeup class notes on October 3rd.
Class 12-13: Thursday, October 3
Additional Reading : Pages 254-288, Behavior-Based Robotics, R. C. Arkin, MIT Press, 1998. (Handed out in class.)
ANNOUNCEMENT: We are adding an additional optional extra credit homework (#6) that will be distributed on Thursday, November 7, and will be due on Tuesday, November 19th. The purpose of this extra credit homework is two-fold: 1) to give you experience in working problems on path planning, navigation, localization, and mapping prior to the final exam, and 2) to give you the opportunity for earning some extra credit. This extra credit homework will be worth up to 3 points added to your final cumulative grade average. This homework #6 is of course optional, and will not work against you if you elect not to do it, or if you only complete parts of it.
Class 14: Tuesday, October 8
Assignment 4 (Out: October 8; Due: October 22 (extended)): Follow instructions from class assignment. We also handed out additional Nomad 200 documentation (hard copy only).
Thursday, October 10
No class -- fall break.
Class 15: Tuesday, October 15
ANNOUNCEMENT: The due date for Assignment #4 has been extended for one class period. Assignment #4 is now due Tuesday, October 22.
Class 16: Thursday, October 17
Class 17: Tuesday, October 22
Extra handout: Instructions on Using Multiple Robots in the Nomad 200 Simulator.
Multi-Robot Communication Files: download here.
Class 18: Thursday, October 24
EXAM #2. In class, closed notes.
Class 19: Tuesday, October 29
Assignment 5 (Out: October 29; Due: November 12 (extended)): Follow instructions from class assignment. This uses the handout that was distributed in Class 17 on Tuesday, October 22.
Additional Reading: Current State of the Art in Multi-Robot Systems, by Lynne Parker, in Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 4, Springer-Verlag, 2000.
Class 20: Thursday, October 31
Class 21: Tuesday, November 5
ANNOUNCEMENT: The due date for Assignment #5 has been extended for one class period. Assignment #5 is now due Tuesday, November 12.
ANNOUNCEMENT: The due date for the Final Project has been extended for one class period. Your Final Project is now due Tuesday, November 26.
Class 22: Thursday, November 7
Class 23: Tuesday, November 12
Extra Credit Assignment (Out: November 12; Due: November 19): Follow instructions from class assignment.
Class 24: Thursday, November 14
Additional Reading: A Real-Time Algorithm for Mobile Robot Mapping with Applications to Multi-Robot and 3D Mapping, by S. Thrun, W. Burgard, and D. Fox, in Proc. International Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2000.
Pointers to related presentations:
Class 25: Tuesday, November 19
Class 26: Thursday, November 21
Class 27: Tuesday, November 25
No Class: Thursday, November 28
Happy Thanksgiving!
Class 28: Tuesday, December 3
EXAM #3 (Final exam). In class (1.25 hours), closed notes. Bring a calculator.