A practical treatment of short-range radar processing for reliable object detection at ground level.

This book describes recent work on active sensors for mobile robots. An active sensor interacts with its surroundings to supply data on demand for a particular function, gathering and abstracting information according to need rather than acting as a generic data gatherer. Details of the physical operation are hidden.The book deals mainly with active range sensors, which provide rapid information for local planning, describing extraction of two-dimensional features such as lines, corners and cylinders to reconstruct a plan of a building. It is structured according to the physical principles of the sensors, since to a large extent these determine the function of the sensors and the methods of processing. Recent work using sonar, optoelectronic sensors and radar is described. Sections on vision and on sensor management develop the idea of software adaptation for efficient operation in a changing environment.

Presents the normal kinematic and dynamic equations for robots, including mobile robots, with coordinate transformations and various control strategies This fully updated edition examines the use of mobile robots for sensing objects of interest, and focus primarily on control, navigation, and remote sensing. It also includes an entirely new section on modeling and control of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which exhibits unique complex three-dimensional dynamics. Mobile Robots: Navigation, Control and Sensing, Surface Robots and AUVs, Second Edition starts with a chapter on kinematic models for mobile robots. It then offers a detailed chapter on robot control, examining several different configurations of mobile robots. Following sections look at robot attitude and navigation. The application of Kalman Filtering is covered. Readers are also provided with a section on remote sensing and sensors. Other chapters discuss: target tracking, including multiple targets with multiple sensors; obstacle mapping and its application to robot navigation; operating a robotic manipulator; and remote sensing via UAVs. The last two sections deal with the dynamics modeling of AUVs and control of AUVs. In addition, this text: Includes two new chapters dealing with control of underwater vehicles Covers control schemes including linearization and use of linear control design methods, Lyapunov stability theory, and more Addresses the problem of ground registration of detected objects of interest given their pixel coordinates in the sensor frame Analyzes geo-registration errors as a function of sensor precision and sensor pointing uncertainty Mobile Robots: Navigation, Control and Sensing, Surface Robots and AUVs is intended for use as a textbook for a graduate course of the same title and can also serve as a reference book for practicing engineers working in related areas.

The monograph written by John Mullane, Ba-Ngu Vo, Martin Adams and Ba-Tuong Vo is devoted to the field of autonomous robot systems, which have been receiving a great deal of attention by the research community in the latest few years. The contents are focused on the problem of representing the environment and its uncertainty in terms of feature based maps. Random Finite Sets are adopted as the fundamental tool to represent a map, and a general framework is proposed for feature management, data association and state estimation. The approaches are tested in a number of experiments on both ground based and marine based facilities.

A modern look at state estimation, targeted at students and practitioners of robotics, with emphasis on three-dimensional applications.

A comprehensive survey of artificial intelligence algorithms and programming organization for robot systems, combining theoretical rigor and practical applications. This textbook offers a comprehensive survey of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and programming organization for robot systems. Readers who master the topics covered will be able to design and evaluate an artificially intelligent robot for applications involving sensing, acting, planning, and learning. A background in AI is not required; the book introduces key AI topics from all AI subdisciplines throughout the book and explains how they contribute to autonomous capabilities. This second edition is a major expansion and reorganization of the first edition, reflecting the dramatic advances made in AI over the past fifteen years. An introductory overview provides a framework for thinking about AI for robotics, distinguishing between the fundamentally different design paradigms of automation and autonomy. The book then discusses the reactive functionality of sensing and acting in AI robotics; introduces the deliberative functions most often associated with intelligence and the capability of autonomous initiative; surveys multi-robot systems and (in a new chapter) human-robot interaction; and offers a “metaview” of how to design and evaluate autonomous systems and the ethical considerations in doing so. New material covers locomotion, simultaneous localization and mapping, human-robot interaction, machine learning, and ethics. Each chapter includes exercises, and many chapters provide case studies. Endnotes point to additional reading, highlight advanced topics, and offer robot trivia.

Provides a collection of works produced by COST Action IC1301 with the goal of achieving significant advances in the field of wireless power transmission This book constitutes together information from COST Action IC1301, a group of academic and industry experts seeking to align research efforts in the field of wireless power transmission (WPT). It begins with a discussion of backscatter as a solution for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and goes on to describe ambient backscattering sensors that use FM broadcasting for low cost and low power wireless applications. The book also explores localization of passive RFID tags and augmented tags using nonlinearities of RFID chips. It concludes with a review of methods of electromagnetic characterization of textile materials for the development of wearable antennas. Wireless Power Transmission for Sustainable Electronics: COST WiPE - IC1301 covers textile-supported wireless energy transfer, and reviews methods for the electromagnetic characterization of textile materials for the development of wearable antennas. It also looks at: backscatter RFID sensor systems for remote health monitoring; simultaneous localization (of robots and objects) and mapping (SLAM); autonomous system of wireless power distribution for static and moving nodes of wireless sensor networks; and more. Presents techniques for smart beam-forming for "on demand" wireless power transmission (WPT) Discusses RF and microwave energy harvesting for space applications Describes miniaturized RFID transponders for object identification and sensing Wireless Power Transmission for Sustainable Electronics: COST WiPE - IC1301 is an excellent book for both graduate students and industry engineers involved in wireless communications and power transfer, and sustainable materials for those fields.

During the last decade, many researchers have dedicated their efforts to constructing revolutionary machines and to providing them with forms of artificial intelligence to perform some of the most hazardous, risky or monotonous tasks historically assigned to human beings. Among those machines, mobile robots are undoubtedly at the cutting edge of current research directions. A rough classification of mobile robots can be considered: on the one hand, mobile robots oriented to human-made indoor environments; on the other hand, mobile robots oriented to unstructured outdoor environments, which could include flying oriented robots, space-oriented robots and underwater robots. The most common motion mechanism for surface mobile robots is the wheel-based mechanism, adapted both to flat surfaces, found in human-made environments, and to rough terrain, found in outdoor environments. However, some researchers have reported successful developments with leg-based mobile robots capable of climbing up stairs, although they require further investigation. The research work presented here focuses on wheel-based mobile robots that navigate in human-made indoor environments. The main problems described throughout this book are: Representation and integration of uncertain geometric information by means of the Symmetries and Perturbations Model (SPmodel). This model combines the use of probability theory to represent the imprecision in the location of a geometric element, and the theory of symmetries to represent the partiality due to characteristics of each type of geometric element. A solution to the first location problem, that is, the computation of an estimation for the mobile robot location when the vehicle is completely lost in the environment. The problem is formulated as a search in an interpretation tree using efficient matching algorithms and geometric constraints to reduce the size of the solution space. The book proposes a new probabilistic framework adapted to the problem of simultaneous localization and map building for mobile robots: the Symmetries and Perturbations Map (SPmap). This framework has been experimentally validated by a complete experiment which profited from ground-truth to accurately validate the precision and the appropriateness of the approach. The book emphasizes the generality of the solutions proposed to the different problems and their independence with respect to the exteroceptive sensors mounted on the mobile robot. Theoretical results are complemented by real experiments, where the use of multisensor-based approaches is highlighted.

Offers a step-by-step guide to building autonomous vehicles and robots, with source code and accompanying videos The first book of its kind on the detailed steps for creating an autonomous vehicle or robot, this book provides an overview of the technology and introduction of the key elements involved in developing autonomous vehicles, and offers an excellent introduction to the basics for someone new to the topic of autonomous vehicles and the innovative, modular-based engineering approach called DragonFly. Engineering Autonomous Vehicles and Robots: The DragonFly Modular-based Approach covers everything that technical professionals need to know about: CAN bus, chassis, sonars, radars, GNSS, computer vision, localization, perception, motion planning, and more. Particularly, it covers Computer Vision for active perception and localization, as well as mapping and motion planning. The book offers several case studies on the building of an autonomous passenger pod, bus, and vending robot. It features a large amount of supplementary material, including the standard protocol and sample codes for chassis, sonar, and radar. GPSD protocol/NMEA protocol and GPS deployment methods are also provided. Most importantly, readers will learn the philosophy behind the DragonFly modular-based design approach, which empowers readers to design and build their own autonomous vehicles and robots with flexibility and affordability. Offers progressive guidance on building autonomous vehicles and robots Provides detailed steps and codes to create an autonomous machine, at affordable cost, and with a modular approach Written by one of the pioneers in the field building autonomous vehicles Includes case studies, source code, and state-of-the art research results Accompanied by a website with supplementary material, including sample code for chassis/sonar/radar; GPS deployment methods; Vision Calibration methods Engineering Autonomous Vehicles and Robots is an excellent book for students, researchers, and practitioners in the field of autonomous vehicles and robots.

The second edition of a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of mobile robotics, from algorithms to mechanisms. Mobile robots range from the Mars Pathfinder mission's teleoperated Sojourner to the cleaning robots in the Paris Metro. This text offers students and other interested readers an introduction to the fundamentals of mobile robotics, spanning the mechanical, motor, sensory, perceptual, and cognitive layers the field comprises. The text focuses on mobility itself, offering an overview of the mechanisms that allow a mobile robot to move through a real world environment to perform its tasks, including locomotion, sensing, localization, and motion planning. It synthesizes material from such fields as kinematics, control theory, signal analysis, computer vision, information theory, artificial intelligence, and probability theory. The book presents the techniques and technology that enable mobility in a series of interacting modules. Each chapter treats a different aspect of mobility, as the book moves from low-level to high-level details. It covers all aspects of mobile robotics, including software and hardware design considerations, related technologies, and algorithmic techniques. This second edition has been revised and updated throughout, with 130 pages of new material on such topics as locomotion, perception, localization, and planning and navigation. Problem sets have been added at the end of each chapter. Bringing together all aspects of mobile robotics into one volume, Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots can serve as a textbook or a working tool for beginning practitioners. Curriculum developed by Dr. Robert King, Colorado School of Mines, and Dr. James Conrad, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, to accompany the National Instruments LabVIEW Robotics Starter Kit, are available. Included are 13 (6 by Dr. King and 7 by Dr. Conrad) laboratory exercises for using the LabVIEW Robotics Starter Kit to teach mobile robotics concepts.