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Department of Computer Science

CS313 Mobile Robotics

CS313 15 CATS (7.5 ECTS) Term 1

Availability

Option - CS, CSE, CBS and DM

Prerequisites

A fair grasp of knowledge about the following mathermatical tools is required: trigonometry, matrix algebra, vector spaces, and differential equations.

Ideally the student would find it useful to have completed CS130 Mathematics for Computer Scientists I, CS131 Mathematics for Computer Scientists II, CS138 Mathematics for Computer and Business Studies, ES107 Mathematics for Engineers, or a similar Mathematics module.

Academic Aims

The main aim of the module is to provide an understanding of the fundamental principles of mobile robotics and related concepts. The module introduces various mechanisms of mobility for different kinds of mobile robots, algorithms and data structures for safe navigation of the robot, and some techniques for equipping the robot with an intelligent vision system.

Learning Outcomes

The module is primarily addressed at Computer Scientists and Computer Systems Engineers, but it is also taken by Electrical Engineers, Physicists and Mathematicians, so the learning outcomes may vary. After successful completion of this module, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the underlying principles of mobile robotics, a knowledge of its applications, and apply these to analyse and solve related real-world problems.

Content

  • Introduction to mobile robots
  • Sensors
  • State Estimation
  • Discrete Filter
  • Linear Gaussian Filter
  • Non-parametric Filters
  • Mapping
  • SLAM
  • Motion Planning
  • Markov Decision Process

Books

There is no single book which covers all of the above topics. Handouts will be provided, but students are strongly encouraged to consult the books/papers on the reading list to further their understanding. The reading list includes the following texts:

  • Sebastian Thrun, Wolfram Burgard, Dieter Fox, Probabilistic Robotics, MIT Press, 2005.
  • Siegwest and Nourbakhsh, Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots, MIT Press, 2004.
  • Dudek G and Jenkin M, Computational Principles of Mobile Robotics, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
  • Craig JJ, Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics and Control (3rd ed), Prentice-Hall, 2005.
  • Gonzalez R and Woods RC, Digital Image Processing, Prentice-Hall, 2002.

Assessment

Three-hour examination (80%), Assessed work (20%)