Robotics overview

Examples of robots

• • WillowGarage's PR2 (humanoid development platform)

  • PARO (therapeutic)

  • iRobot Roomba (vacuum)

What is involved in robotics?

• • hardware 

    • electrical engineering 

  • mechanical engineering

  • computer engineering

  • (physics: mechanics, electronics)

  • behavior

    • is the goal to mimic existing behavior (human or animal)?

      • AI (process or exhibited behavior?)

      • search

      • motion planning

      • machine learning

      • computer vision

    • actuate robot

      • kinematics (forward and inverse)

    • (math: algebra, linear algebra, probability, statistics; psychology; neuroscience)

  • interaction

    • human-robot interaction (HRI)

      • example: Baxter

    • human-computer interaction (HCI or CHI)

    • (psychology)

A glimpse into...

• • forward and inverse kinematics

    • 4x4 transformation matrices

  • motion planners

    • collisions

    • probabilistic roadmap planner

    • use of Dijkstra's

  • mapping and localization