Robotics
Assignments/Grading Policies, Spring 2001
There are three components to the coursework: lab projects, written assignments, and a class presentation.
The lab projects intend to provide experience with robot programming, using both simulators and hardware. The expected size of a group of students working on a project is 2-3. (This is required for the hardware-dependent assignments, and optional for the simulator assignments.)
Lab Assignment A -- Reactive Control (Nomad Simulator)
Lab Assignment B -- Bug Algorithms (Nomad Simulator)
Lab Assignment BB -- Motion Planning (Nomad Simulator)
Lab Assignment C -- Task-directed behavior (Handyboards)
Lab Assignment D -- Manipulation (Robix arm)
Lab Assignment E -- Visual Tracking (Sony camera)
Lab Assignment F -- Visual Tracking (Pioneer)
Lab Assignment G -- Path Planning (Pioneer)
Lab Assignment H -- Escape from Platt! (Rug Warrior)
Open Project Ideas
Because it would be infeasible to have the entire class working on one or two robotic systems at the same time, various lab groups will work on different projects every two or three weeks. You are encouraged to do the write-up for each lab project in HTML, using the assignment specification as a starting point. The assignments are due at midnight of the following dates, and you have five late days you may take in any combination you choose. (Additional extensions will be difficult to organize, because a new group will need to start using the hardware.) Many of the projects culminate in a task or other behavior -- each group should set up a time with me in order to demonstrate their results (on or before the due date).
The following are the dates on which lab assignments are due. Pairings of labs with lab groups will be done early in the course.
Lab Assignment 1 (Due Mon, Feb 5)
Lab Assignment 2 (Due Mon, Feb 26)
Lab Assignment 3 (Due Mon, Mar 26)
Lab Assignment 4 (Due Mon, Apr 16)
Lab Assignment 5 (Due Fri, May 4)
As a result of this setup, several groups will start out working on projects for which not all of the background material has been presented in class. I have tried to make the lab projects sufficiently stand-alone that this will not be a major concern.
Final Projects There is no required final project in this class. However, if a group or individual would like to do a final project of its own design, you may propose one to replace the last two lab assignments above. (Smaller projects can replace one assignment.) This link contains several project ideas, as well as the requirements and deliverables for a final project.
In order to reinforce and extend some of the algorithms and ideas presented in class, there are six written assignments interspersed with the lab projects. Feel free to print out the HTML pages and write solutions there, if you like. In contrast to the lab projects, the written assignments will follow matrial as it's presented and should be done individually. For each written assignment there is a corresponding set of reading -- links to papers are provided.
Problem Set 1 -- Motors and Control (Due Tuesday, Jan. 30, in class)
Reading:
Chapters 1 and 6 in Dudek & Jenkin's text.
Achieving Artificial
Intelligence Through Building Robots by Rodney Brooks (MIT AI Memo 899, May
86)
Problem Set 2 -- Sensors and Kinematics
(Due date tentatively
Thursday, Feb 15, in class)
Reading:
Chapters 2 and 3 in Dudek & Jenkin's text.
Problem Set 3 -- Configuration Space and Path
Planning (Due date Friday, March 9, in class)
Reading:
Chapter 5 in Dudek & Jenkin's text.
Problem Set 4 -- Vision (Due date
Wednesday, May 2)
Reading:
Chapters 7 and 8 in Dudek & Jenkin's text.
Paper(s) to be determined
As a survey of the field, this course can not do justice to the enormous number of robotic systems that have been studied and built. To counter this somewhat, each lab group needs to research and present one (or more) robotic systems to the rest of the class. These presentations will occur at the end of the semester, but it's never too early to consider what you would like to look into. Some details:
Acknowledging teamwork It is important that the work on the lab projects be divided fairly, and this will be expected in all of the projects. However, in order to give credit where it is due, if one person does all or most of a particular project piece, that should be indicated in the write-up.
Protecting files While it is natural to develop the assignments in your ~/public_html directory, be sure that those files aren't visible until the submission date. There will be a time at which they'll be visible and others could use them inappropriately, but I think the following factors make this situation acceptable:
Late days You have five late days which you can use on your lab assignments at your discretion. (There are no late days available for the written assignments.) You may use any number on a particular assignment. You don't need to ask permission to use these late days. Using a late day allows you to turn in the assignment 24 hours later than the official due date.
The weight that each of the three requirements has in determining a final grade breaks down as follows: