ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

This assessment covers the design of a robot that is able to navigate an arena, and build a map of the arena. This assignment counts for 50% of the final grade for the module.

This is the detailed specification of the assignment:

1. •You are required to write a robot program that will enable your robot to explore the arena and produce a map.
   

2. •The robot will start from a known location either position based e.g. an (x, y) coordinate of (20cm, 20cm) or occupancy grid based e.g. the robot starts at the grid coordinate (x, y) of (0,0).
   

3. •The arena will have a small number (between 2 and 4) of obstacles, which will be placed at random locations. These obstacles will be about 21cm width, 33 cm depth, and 21cm high (we will use empty photocopier paper boxes). They are intended to be easily detectable.
   

4. •There will be a single coloured sheet of paper (the same size as the obstacles; approximately A4 sized) which the robots should be able to detect using the colour sensor.  This will signify the end location, and the colour of this sheet will be blue.
   

5. •To assist with localization, you can use landmarks/waypoints (e.g., coloured tape or sheets of paper) at known locations, which can be detected by your robot.  Note, the colour of the landmark must be different to the colour of the end location.
   

1. •Your robot should explore its arena (ideally using a number of behaviours defined by the Subsumption package) and produce a map using occupancy grid techniques, indicating the probability of each cell being occupied, unoccupied or whether the probability is unknown. Assume grid cells are about the size of the robot (say roughly 25cm long, 20cm wide).
   

2. •Whilst navigating, you will identify a coloured grid cell which will be your ending location (see above).  When finished generating the map, the robot should navigate back to the ending position.
   

3. •The map produced by the robot should be displayed on the LCD screen of the robot throughout the search (such that one can view the progress of the mapping process).  When the robot finishes the demo, the map should be displayed until a final button (e.g. ESCAPE) is pressed, so that the map can be inspected.
   

4. •The map should be viewable either using text, drawn graphically, or both (for example, pressing a button toggles between the two).  Any text based representation should display the probability to at least 1 significant digit.
   

5. •Note that any final occupancy grid should include cells representing the boundary of the arena.
   

Obtaining robots

1. •Robots are available from the HelpDesk during lab hours.  If the lab is not open, then you can try asking Dr Payne (Terry) in 218, or Mr Alcock (Josh) in 213 to get access to the Robots.
   

2. •Only one Robot will be allocated to a group (though the robot itself may change based on availability).
   

3. •Robots cannot be taken out of the building (e.g. over night or over the weekend).
   

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

You should work with your assigned groups.  Your solution should be submitted ELECTRONICALLY as follows:

1. •Each member of the group is responsible for submitting a zip file containing:
   

1. 1.A log of their individual activity as a pdf file; and
   

2. 2.A filled in peer-evaluation form.
   

3. •Furthermore, each group should nominate a single member of the group who will be responsible for submitting:
   

3. 3.The source code for the group solution; and
   

4. 4.A (joint) complete log of the meetings and minutes for your group.
   

To summarise: in each group, two members will submit just their individual peer review form and individual activity report.  These should not be shared with other students.  The third member of the group will submit a zip file containing the source code and a joint log in addition to their individual peer review form and individual activity report.

Your solutions must be submitted to the departmental electronic submission system, and select ‘Assignment 1’ from the drop-down menu.  You then locate the zip file containing your submission, check the box stating that you have read and understood the university’s policy on plagiarism and collusion, then click the ‘Upload File’ button.

Each group will be scheduled a time during the following week (most likely the Wednesday 8th November )to demonstrate their solution. Partial marks will be awarded for partial solutions.  As an insurance, groups should consider submitting a video in case there are problems with the demonstration.

MARKING SCHEME - to be finalised

Individual marks will be based on the team mark adjusted according to the peer-evaluation form.

Purpose of Assessment & Learning Outcomes

The purpose of the assessment is to provide the student with experience programming an autonomous robot, in particular in the exploration and mapping of a space, and to assess the learning outcomes 2, 3, 5, and 6 (in bold/italic) from the following stated outcomes for the module:

1. 1.explain the notion of an agent, how agents are distinct from other software paradigms (e.g., objects), and judge the characteristics of applications that lend themselves to an agent-oriented solution;
   

2. 2.identify the key issues associated with constructing agents capable of intelligent autonomous action;
   

3. 3.describe the main approaches taken to developing such agents;
   

4. 4.use a contemporary agent programming platform (e.g., AgentSpeak) for developing significant software or hardware-based agents;
   

5. 5.identify key issues involved in building agents that must sense and act within the physical world;
   

6. 6.program and deploy autonomous robots for specific tasks.