Nehmzow U. Mobile Robotics: A Practical Introduction

Second Edition. — Springer, 2003. — XVI, 280 p. — ISBN: 978-1-4471-0025-6.Mobile Robotics: A Practical Introduction (2nd edition) is an excellent introduction to the foundations and methods used for designing completely autonomous mobile robots. A fascinating, cutting-edge, research topic, autonomous mobile robotics is now taught in more and more universities. In this book you are introduced to the fundamental concepts of this complex field via twelve detailed case studies that show how to build and program real working robots. Topics covered in clued learning, autonomous navigation in unmodified, noisy and unpredictable environments, and high fidelity robot simulation. This new edition has been updated to include a new chapter on novelty detection, and provides a very practical introduction to mobile robotics for a general scientific audience. It is essential reading for 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students and postgraduate students studying robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science and robot engineering. The update and overview of core concepts in mobile robotics will assist and encourage practitioners of the field and set challenges to explore new avenues of research in this exiting field.Foundations.
Definitions.
Applications of Mobile Robots.
History of Mobile Robotics: Early Implementations.
History of Mobile Robotics: Control Paradigms.
Further Reading.
Robot Hardware.Robot Sensors.
Robot Actuators.
Example: The Mobile Robot FortyTwo.
The Need for Sensor Signal Interpretation.
Further Reading.
Robot Learning: Making Sense of Raw Sensor Data.Learning Methods in Detail.
Further Reading on Learning Methods.
Case Studies of Learning Robots.
Exercise: A Target-Following, Obstacle-Avoiding Robot.
Navigation.
Principles of Navigation.
Fundamental Navigation Strategies of Animals and Humans.
Robot Navigation.
Case Studies of Navigating Robots.
Novelty Detection.
Motivation.
Approaches to Novelty Detection.
Case Study on Novelty Detection.Simulation: Modelling Robot-Environment Interaction.
Motivation.
Fundamentals of Computer Simulation.
Alternatives to Numerical Models.
Case Study on Simulation of Robot-Environment Interaction.
Analysis of Robot Behaviour.
Motivation.
Statistical Analysis of Robot Behaviour.
Case Studies of Performance Evaluation and Analysis.Outlook.
Achievements.
Reasons for Success.
Challenges.
The Beginning.
Further Reading.
Answers to Exercises.
Sonar Sensors.
Robot Learning.
Error Calculations and Contingency Table Analysis.
Analysis of Categorical Data.
List of Exercises and Case Studies.