Lab Cognitive Robotics (MA-INF 4304)

Prof. Dr. Sven Behnke

Block course at the end of the semester: 5.9.-23.9.2016

First organizational meeting: 22.7.2016, 13:00 in room I.42, Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 144

Cognitive robotics is an active research area at the border between artificial intelligence and robotics. 
It investigates and tries to implement in technical systems mental functions, which are associated with intelligence.
This covers the perception of the environment, action planning, and learning. In this lab course, the students will implement algorithms for the control of our cognitive robots. 

In this semester, students will work on tasks inspired by the Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC), an international robotics competition, organized by Khalifa University Abu Dhabi.

Challenge 1 requires a UAV to locate, track and land on a moving ground vehicle.
Challenge 2 requires a UGV to locate and reach a panel, and physically operate a valve on the panel.
Challenge 3 requires a team of UAVs to collaborate to search for, locate, track, pick up, and place down a set of static and moving objects.
The Grand Challenge requires a team of robots (UAVs and UGVs) to compete in a triathlon type event that combines Challenges 1, 2 and 3.

- The students will work in small groups.

- The lab is a good preparation for writing a Master thesis in the Autonomous Intelligent Systems group.

- Selected participants will have the opportunity to join our MBZIRC team.
 

Prerequisites

- Good programming skills in C/C++ or some other object-oriented programming language.

- Knowledge in robotics, artificial intelligence, or machine learning is helpful.
  

Literature

David Droeschel, Matthias Nieuwenhuisen, Marius Beul, Dirk Holz, Jörg Stückler, and Sven Behnke:
Multi-Layered Mapping and Navigation for Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles
Journal of Field Robotics, 33(4):451-475, Wiley, 2016.

Max Schwarz, Marius Beul, David Droeschel, Sebastian Schüller, Arul Selvam Periyasamy, Christian Lenz, Michael Schreiber, and Sven Behnke:
Supervised Autonomy for Exploration and Mobile Manipulation in Rough Terrain with a Centaur-like Robot
Accepted for Frontiers in Robotics and AI, section Humanoid Robotics, to appear 2016.

Max Schwarz, Tobias Rodehutskors, David Droeschel, Marius Beul, Michael Schreiber, Nikita Araslanov, Ivan Ivanov, Christian Lenz, Jan Razlaw, Sebastian Schüller, David Schwarz, Angeliki Topalidou-Kyniazopoulou, and Sven Behnke:
NimbRo Rescue: Solving Disaster-Response Tasks through Mobile Manipulation Robot Momaro