Sensing, Intelligence, Motion (PDF)

A leap forward in the field of robotics

Until now, most of the advances in robotics have taken place in
structured environments. Scientists and engineers have designed
highly sophisticated robots, but most are still only able to
operate and move in predetermined, planned environments designed
specifically for the robots and typically at very high cost. This
new book takes robotics to the next level by setting forth the
theory and techniques needed to achieve robotic motion in
unstructured environments. The ability to move and operate in an
arbitrary, unplanned environment will lead to automating a wide
range of new robotic tasks, such as patient care, toxic site
cleanup, and planetary exploration.

The approach that opens the door for robots to handle unstructured
tasks is known as Sensing-Intelligence-Motion (SIM), which draws
from research in topology, computational complexity, control
theory, and sensing hardware. Using SIM as an underlying
foundation, the author's carefully structured presentation is
designed to:

* Formulate the challenges of sensor-based motion planning and then
build a theoretical foundation for sensor-based motion planning
strategies

* Investigate promising algorithmic strategies for mobile robots
and robot arm manipulators, in both cases addressing motion
planning for the whole robot body

* Compare robot performance to human performance in sensor-based
motion planning to gain better insight into the challenges of SIM
and help build synergistic human-robot teams for tele-operation
tasks. It is both exciting and encouraging to discover that robot
performance decisively exceeds human performance in certain tasks
requiring spatial reasoning, even when compared to trained
operators

* Review sensing hardware that is necessary to realize the SIM
paradigm

Some 200 illustrations, graphic sketches, and photos are included
to clarify key issues, develop and validate motion planning
approaches, and demonstrate full systems in operation.

As the first book fully devoted to robot motion planning in
unstructured environments, Sensing, Intelligence, Motion is a
must-read for engineers, scientists, and researchers involved in
robotics. It will help them migrate robots from highly specialized
applications in factories to widespread use in society where
autonomous robot motion is needed.