Adaptive Autonomous Robot Teams for Situational Awareness Gaurav S. Sukhatme, Maja J. Mataric, Andrew Howard, Ashley Tews Robotics Research Laboratory University of Southern California

Task Summary Outdoor simulation Cooperative outdoor localization Semantic representations Stealthy behaviors Path-referenced perception Human-robot interface Integration

Simulation Planned Extensions –3D simulation for outdoor terrain. –Incorporate USC helicopter and UPenn blimp Recent Progress: Player –generic driver/interface model –IMU/GPS drivers, laser and visual fiducial detectors –Supports multiple architectures (e.g. Solaris, iPAQ)

Cooperative Outdoor Localization Plans –Extend existing localization algorithms to outdoor environments. –Implement outdoor localization in the presence of partial GPS. –Validate through outdoor experiments with small teams (4 ground robots).

Semantic Representation and Activity Recognition Semantic mark-up of maps with following attributes: –elevation, terrain type and traversability, foliage and coverage type, and impact on communications. Integrate activity/motion detection algorithms to locate people in the environment. Demonstrate semantic markup using ground robots at USC.

Variable Autonomy and Stealth Develop and implement behaviors for variable autonomy incorporating operator feedback using gestures Develop and implement a new “stealthy patrolling” behavior by integrating visibility constraints into current patrolling algorithms Adapt and tune above behaviors using reinforcement learning to improve performance

Path-referenced Perception and Behaviors Develop path-referenced perception and behaviors, which allow recall of behavioral strategy relative to priors paths taken in the mission Integrate path-referencing which allows robots to query each other for relative locations of semantic mark-ups

Integration Plans: –Demonstrations at USC of cooperative localization (laser based with IMU and GPS) using ground robots and USC helicopter. –Demonstration at USC of activity detection, semantic markup of terrain and stealthy traverses. –Support joint demonstration with ground robots.

Other Progress to Date Contract in place: Nov 4, 2002 New Personnel: Nathan Koenig (student), Emil Birgesson (visitor from Sweden), Ian Kelly (100%), Stefan Hrabar (50%) both as project specialists New Robots: –4 Pioneer 2ATs (Intel gift) –Control boards and IMU under test