The Robotics Primer

by Mataric, Maja J.

• ISBN13: 9780262633543
• ISBN10: 026263354X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-17
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

The Robotics Primeroffers a broadly accessible introduction to robotics for students at pre-university and university levels, robot hobbyists, and anyone interested in this burgeoning field. The text takes the reader from the most basic concepts (including perception and movement) to the most novel and sophisticated applications and topics (humanoids, shape-shifting robots, space robotics), with an emphasis on what it takes to create autonomous intelligent robot behavior. The core concepts of robotics are carried through from fundamental definitions to more complex explanations, all presented in an engaging, conversational style that will appeal to readers of different backgrounds. The Robotics Primercovers such topics as the definition of robotics, the history of robotics ("Where do Robots Come From?"), robot components, locomotion, manipulation, sensors, control, control architectures, representation, behavior ("Making Your Robot Behave"), navigation, group robotics, learning, and the future of robotics (and its ethical implications). To encourage further engagement, experimentation, and course and lesson design, The Robotics Primeris accompanied by a free robot programming exercise workbook. The Robotics Primeris unique as a principled, pedagogical treatment of the topic that is accessible to a broad audience; the only prerequisites are curiosity and attention. It can be used effectively in an educational setting or more informally for self-instruction. The Robotics Primeris a springboard for readers of all backgrounds--including students taking robotics as an elective outside the major, graduate students preparing to specialize in robotics, and K-12 teachers who bring robotics into their classrooms.

Author Biography

Maja J. Matarić is Professor of Computer Science and Neuroscience and Director of the Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems at the University of Southern California, where she is also Codirector of the Robotics Research Lab and Senior Associate Dean for research in the Viterbi School of Engineering.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xv
What Is a Robot?	p. 1
Defining Robotics
Where Do Robots Come From?	p. 7
A Brief but Gripping History of Robotics
Control Theory	p. 7
Cybernetics	p. 8
Grey Walter's Tortoise	p. 9
Braitenberg's Vehicles	p. 11
Artificial Intelligence	p. 13
What's in a Robot?	p. 19
Robot Components
Embodiment	p. 20
Sensing	p. 21
Action	p. 24
Brains and Brawn	p. 25
Autonomy	p. 26
Arms, Legs, Wheels, Tracks, and What Really Drives Them	p. 29
Effectors and Actuators
Active vs. Passive Actuation	p. 30
Types of Actuators	p. 31
Motors	p. 32
Direct Current (DC) Motors	p. 32
Gearing	p. 3
Servo Motors	p. 37
Degrees of Freedom	p. 38
Move It!	p. 47
Locomotion
Stability	p. 48
Moving and Gaits	p. 51
Wheels and Steering	p. 53
Staying on the Path vs. Getting There	p. 55
Grasping at Straws	p. 59
Manipulation
Endeffectors	p. 59
Teleoperation	p. 60
Why Is Manipulation Hard?	p. 62
What's Going On?	p. 69
Sensors
Levels of Processing	p. 73
Switch on the Light	p. 81
Simple Sensors
Passive vs. Active Sensors	p. 81
Switches	p. 82
Light Sensors	p. 84
Polarized Light	p. 86
Reflective Optosensors	p. 86
Reflectance Sensors	p. 88
Infra Red Light	p. 89
Modulation and Demodulation of Light	p. 90
Break Beam Sensors	p. 90
Shaft Encoders	p. 91
Resistive Position Sensors	p. 94
Potentiometers	p. 95
Sonars, Lasers, and Cameras	p. 97
Complex Sensors
Ultrasonic or Sonar Sensing	p. 97
Sonar Before and Beyond Robotics	p. 100
Specular Reflection	p. 101
Laser Sensing	p. 104
Visual Sensing	p. 107
Cameras	p. 108
Edge Detection	p. 110
Model-Based Vision	p. 112
Motion Vision	p. 113
Stereo Vision	p. 114
Texture, Shading, Contours	p. 115
Biological Vision	p. 116
Vision for Robots	p. 117
Stay in Control	p. 121
Feedback Control
Feedback or Closed Loop Control	p. 121
The Many Faces of Error	p. 122
An Example of a Feedback Control Robot	p. 124
Types of Feedback Control	p. 126
Proportional Control	p. 126
Derivative Control	p. 128
Integral Control	p. 129
PD and PID Control	p. 130
Feedforward or Open Loop Control	p. 131
The Building Blocks of Control	p. 135
Control Architectures
Who Needs Control Architectures?	p. 135
Languages for Programming Robots	p. 137
And the Architectures are...	p. 139
Time	p. 141
Modularity	p. 141
Representation	p. 142
What's in Your Head?	p. 145
Representation
The Many Ways to Make a Map	p. 146
What Can the Robot Represent?	p. 147
Costs of Representing	p. 148
Think Hard, Act Later	p. 151
Deliberative Control
What Is Planning?	p. 151
Costs of Planning	p. 154
Don't Think, React!	p. 161
Reactive Control
Action Selection	p. 166
Subsumption Architecture	p. 169
Herbert, or How to Sequence Behaviors Through the World	p. 172
Think and Act Separately, in Parallel	p. 177
Hybrid Control
Dealing with Changes in the World/Map/Task	p. 179
Planning and Replanning	p. 180
On-Line and Off-Line Planning	p. 182
Think the Way You Act	p. 187
Behavior-Based Control
Distributed Representation	p. 192
An Example: Distributed Mapping	p. 193
Toto the Robot	p. 194
Toto's Navigation	p. 194
Toto's Landmark Detection	p. 196
Toto's Mapping Behaviors	p. 197
Path Planning in Toto's Behavior Map	p. 200
Toto's Map-Following	p. 202
Making Your Robot Behave	p. 207
Behavior Coordination
Behavior Arbitration: Make a Choice	p. 207
Behavior Fusion: Sum It Up	p. 209
When the Unexpected Happens	p. 215
Emergent Behavior
An Example: Emergent Wall-Following	p. 215
The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts	p. 218
Components of Emergence	p. 218
Expect the Unexpected	p. 218
Predictability of Surprise	p. 219
Good vs. Bad Emergent Behavior	p. 220
Architectures and Emergence	p. 221
Going Places	p. 223
Navigation
Localization	p. 225
Search and Path Planning	p. 228
SLAM	p. 229
Coverage	p. 230
Go, Team!	p. 233
Group Robotics
Benefits of Teamwork p.20.1
Challenges of Teamwork	p. 236
Types of Groups and Teams	p. 237
Communication	p. 241
Kin Recognition	p. 246
Getting a Team to Play Together	p. 247
I'm the Boss: Centralized Control	p. 247
Work It Out as a Team: Distributed Control	p. 248
Architectures for Multi-Robot Control	p. 249
Pecking Orders: Hierarchies	p. 250
Things Keep Getting Better	p. 255
Learning
Reinforcement Learning	p. 256
Supervised Learning	p. 260
Learning from Imitation/From Demonstration	p. 261
Learning and Forgetting	p. 265
Where To Next?	p. 269
The Future of Robotics
Space Robotics	p. 273
Surgical Robotics	p. 274
Self-Reconfigurable Robotics	p. 276
Humanoid Robotics	p. 277
Social Robotics and Human-Robot Interaction	p. 278
Service, Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics	p. 280
Educational Robotics	p. 283
Ethical Implications	p. 285
Bibliography	p. 289
Glossary	p. 293
Index	p. 302
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