Mobile Robotics: 1. Introduction Dr. Brian Mac Namee (

2 of 25 2 of 26 Acknowledgments These notes are based (heavily) on those provided by the authors to accompany “Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots” by Roland Siegwart and Illah R. Nourbakhsh More information about the book is available at: The book can be bought at: The MIT Press and Amazon.com The MIT PressAmazon.com

3 of 25 3 of 26 Contents Robots in films & TV The reality –Industrial robots –Robots in space –Research robots Ethics and robotics Miscellanea Our robots Course outline –Domestic robots –Entertainment robots

4 of 25 4 of 26 Star Wars

5 of 25 5 of 26 I, Robot

6 of 25 6 of 26 Terminator When good robots go bad!

7 of 25 7 of 26 Other Robot Film Stars

8 of 25 8 of 26 Movie Robot Summary Robots in films and on TV tend to: –Move naturally and easily – often faster, stronger and more nimble than us –Be extremely intelligent –Possess rich and engaging personalities –Have the capacity to display emotions –Be able to speak naturally and understand speech without any problems –Often want to take over the world!

9 of 25 9 of 26 The Reality

10 of of 26 Real World Robots The major areas in which robotics are used today are: –Industrial robots –Military robots –Space robots –Domestic robots –Entertainment robots –Robots in academia

11 of of 26 Industrial Robots Robots have seen their most widespread use in industrial manufacturing –Car manufacture –Pharmaceutical manufacturing –Computer processor manufacturing - Intel Mostly static robots (robotics arms), but some mobile robots are also used

12 of of 26 Industrial Robots In Action

13 of of 26 Military Robots There is a massive amount of research going on into using robotics for military purposes There are also massive questions as to whether this is the right thing to do Samsung robot sentry video available herehere

14 of of 26 Robots In Space Space also offers massive potential for applications of robotics However, these robots need to be extremely reliable – we can’t zip up there and turn them back over if the fall down!

15 of of 26 Robots In Space (cont…) The NASA Mars Rovers launched in 2003 are one of the best examples of this They are still up there!

16 of of 26 Domestic Robots Although we have been promised robots at home for years, it has yet to really happen There have been two really good example though: –Roomba by the iRobot Coporation –RoboMower by Friendly Robotics

17 of of 26 Domestic Robots (cont…) Roomba video at

18 of of 26 Entertainment Robots

19 of of 26 Sony’s QRIO Robo-Disco

20 of of 26 Research Robots Robotics is an extremely active research area Not only are new techniques in robotics being discovered all of the time, but spin off technologies are being used in other areas

21 of of 26 RoboCup Soccer “By the year 2050, develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world soccer champion team” Official RoboCup Soccer website is at

22 of of 26 Ethics & Robots Will we end up with Terminator? Asimov’s Laws 1.A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2.A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law 3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

23 of of 26 Miscellanea Me: Dr. Brian Mac Namee Web Site: Lectures: –Wednesday 12:00 – 13:00 (TBA) –Friday 10:00 – 11:00 (TBA) Labs: –Monday 10:00 – 12:00 (A322)

24 of of 26 Miscellanea (cont…) Assessment: –Continuous assessment (70%) Team based robot challenge –Exam (30%)

25 of of 26 Our Robots

26 of of 26 Course Outline The course will cover the following broad topics –Introduction to mobile robotics –Robotics hardware –Robot control system architectures –Mobile robots kinematics –Sensors –Mapping and localisation –Planning and navigation –The future of robotics and robot ethics

27 of of 26 Questions ?