ROBOTICS

Introduction to ROBOTICS

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ROBOTICS
This semester we will study many aspects of robotics.

General Robot Structures

General Definitions
Robot modelling
Robot Actuators and Drive Systems
Sensors
Forward Kinematics
Inverse Kinematics
Robot Control
Robot Programming
Robots with external sensors
Robot Application in Manufacturing

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Course Objectives:
• To acquire the knowledge of basics of robotics and their importance.
• Understand fundamental theory of robot design.
• To acquire the knowledge on advanced algebraic tools for the description of motion.
• To develop the ability to analyze and design the motion for articulated systems.
• To acquire the knowledge of sensors, actuators and vision systems used in robotics.

Course Contents:

Introduction Fixed & flexible automation, evolution of robots and robotics, laws of robotics, progressive, advancement in

robots, manipulator anatomy, arm configuration & work space, human arm characteristics, design and control issues,

manipulation and control, actuators, sensors and vision, programming of robots, applications – material handling, processing

applications, assembly applications, inspection applications etc, the future prospects, notations.

Coordinate Frames, Mapping and Transforms Coordinate frames, description of objects in space, transformation

of vectors, inverting a homogeneous transform, fundamental rotation matrices. mechanical structure and

notations, description of links and joints, kinematic modeling of the manipulator, Denavit – Hartenberg notation,

kinematic relationship between adjacent links, manipulator transformation matrix

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Kinematic Modeling of Robots Position analysis - direct and inverse kinematic models of robotic
manipulators, various examples. velocity analysis – Jacobian matrix, introduction to inverse
kinematic model.

Robotic Sensors and Vision Introduction regarding sensing technologies, sensors in robotics,
classification, characteristics, internal sensors – position, velocity, acceleration sensors, force
sensors, external sensors – proximity, touch and slip sensors. robotic vision, process of imaging,
architecture of robotic vision systems, image acquisition, components of vision system, image
representation, image processing.

Motion Planning and Control of Robot Manipulators Trajectory planning of robotic manipulator:
joint space and Cartesian space techniques. open and close loop control, linear control schemes,
examples of control models. Robot applications Industrial applications, material handling,
processing applications, assembly applications, inspection application, principles for robot
application and application planning, justification of robots, robot safety, non-industrial
applications, robotic application for sustainable development.

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ROBOTICS
Introduction to ROBOTICS

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What is a robot?

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 A Robot is:

An electromechanical device that is:

• Reprogrammable
• Multifunctional
• Sensible for environment

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What is a Robot: I
Manipulator

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 What is a Robot: II

Legged Robot Wheeled Robot

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 What is a Robot: III

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

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 What Can Robots Do: I

Jobs that are dangerous

for humans

Decontaminating Robot
Cleaning the main circulating pump housing
in the nuclear power plant

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 What Can Robots Do: II

Repetitive jobs that are

boring, stressful, or labor-
intensive for humans

Welding Robot

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 What Can Robots Do: III

Manual tasks that human

don’t want to do

The SCRUBMATE Robot

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 History of Robotics - The Origins of Robots

≈250 B.C. - Ctesibius, an ancient Greek engineer and

mathematician, invented a water clock which was the most
accurate for nearly 2000 years.

≈60 A.D. – Hero of Alexandria designs the first automated

programmable machine. These 'Automata' were made from a
container of gradually releasing sand connected to a spindle via
a string. By using different configurations of these pulleys, it was
possible to repeatably move a statue on a pre-defined path.

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 History of Robotics - The Origins of Robots
≈ 1250 - Bishop Albertus Magnus holds
banquet at which guests were served by metal
attendants. Upon seeing this, Saint Thomas
Aquinas smashed the attendants to bits and
called the bishop a sorcerer.

1640 - Descartes builds a female automaton

which he calls “Ma fille Francine.” She
accompanied Descartes on a voyage and
was thrown overboard by the captain, who
thought she was the work of Satan.

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 History of Robotics - The Origins of Robots

1738 - Jacques de Vaucanson builds a

mechanical duck made of more that
4,000 parts. The duck could quack,
bathe, drink water, eat grain, digest it and
void it. Whereabouts of the duck are
unknown today.

1805 - Doll, made by Maillardet, that

wrote in either French or English and
could draw landscapes.

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 History of Robotics - The Origins of Robots

1898 - The first radio-controlled submersible boat was invented by

Nikola Tesla.

1921 - The term "robot" was first used in 1920 in a play called
"R.U.R." Or "Rossum's universal robots" by the Czech writer Karel
Capek. The plot was simple: man makes robot then robot kills
man! Many movies that followed continued to show robots as
harmful, menacing machines. Robot comes from the Czech word
robota, which means “servitude, forced labor.”

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 History of Robotics - The Origins of Robots
Robotics was first introduced into our vocabulary by Czech playwright
Karel Capek in his 1920’s play Rossum’s Universal Robots.

The word “robota” in Czech means simply work. Robots as machines

that resemble people, work tirelessly, and revolt against their creators. .

The same myth/concept is found in

many books/movies today:
“Terminator”, “Star-Wars” series.
Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein.
Frankenstein & The Borg are examples
Karel Capek of “cybernetic organisms”.

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 History of Robotics
1940 - Sparko, the Westinghouse dog, uses both
mechanical and electrical components.

1941 - Isaac Asimov introduced the word 'Robotics' in the

science fiction short story 'Liar!‘

1948 - William Grey Walter builds Elmer and Elsie, two of

the earliest autonomous robots with the appearance of
turtles. The robots used simple rules to produce complex
behaviors.

Cybernetics is a discipline that was created in the late

1940’s by Norbert Wiener, combining feedback control
theory, information sciences and biology to try to explain
the common principles of control and communications in
both animals and machines.

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 History of Robotics
1950`s - Computer technology advances and control machinery is
developed.
Questions Arise: Is the computer an immobile robot?

1954 - The first silicon transistor was produced by Texas

Instruments.

1954 – George Devol replaced the slave manipulator in a

teleoperator with the programmability of the CNC controller, thus
creating the first “industrial robot”, called the “Programmable
Article Transfer Device”.

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 History of Robotics

1955 – The Darmouth Summer Research Conference marks

the birth of AI. Marvin Minsky, from the AI lab at MIT defines an
intelligent machine as one that would tend to “build up within
itself an abstract model of the environment in which it is placed.
If it were given a problem, it could first explore solutions within
the internal abstract model of the environment and then attempt
external experiments”. This approach dominated robotics
research for the next 30 years.
1956 - Researchers aim to combine “perceptual and problem-
solving capabilities,” using computers, cameras, and touch
sensors. The idea is to study the types of intelligent actions
these robots are capable of. A new discipline is born: A.I.

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 History of Robotics

1956 - Joseph Engleberger, a Columbia physics student buys

the rights to Devol’s robot and founds the Unimation Company.

1956 - George Devol applied for a patent for the first

programmable robot, later named 'Unimate'.

1957 - Launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1.

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 History of Robotics

I, Robot

Sputnik I
Turtle robot

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 History of Robotics
• 1960`s - Industrial Robots created. Robotic Industries
Association states that an “industrial robot is a re-
programmable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move
materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable
programmed motions to perform a variety of tasks”.

Robot Institute of America, 1979

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 History of Robotics
• 1961 - The first Unimate robot is installed in a Trenton, NJ General
Motors plant to tend a die casting machine. The key was the
reprogrammability and retooling of the machine to perform different
tasks. The Unimate robot was an innovative mechanical design based
on a multi-degree of freedom cantilever beam. The beam flexibility
presented challenges for control. Hydraulic actuation was eventually
used to alleviate precision problems.
• 1962 – 1963 – The introduction of sensors is seen as a way to enhance
the operation of robots. This includes force sensing for stacking blocks
(Ernst, 1961), vision system for binary decision for presence of obstacles
in the environment (McCarthy 1963), pressure sensors for grasping
(Tomovic and Boni, 1962). Robot interaction with an unstructured
environment at MIT’s AI lab (Man and Computer – MAC project).

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 History of Robotics
• 1965 - Gordon E. Moore introduces the concept 'Moore's law', which
predicts the number of components on a single chip would double
every two years.
• 1966 – 1968 'Shakey‘, a mobile robot is developed by SRI (Stanford
Research Institute). 'Shakey' was capable of planning, route-finding
and moving objects. It was placed in a special room with specially
colored objects. A vision system would recognize objects and pushed
objects according to a plan. This planning software was STRIPS, and it
maintained and updated a world model. The robot had pan/tilt and focus
for the camera, and bump sensors.
• 1968 – Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan acquires a license for
Unimate.
• 1969 - The Apollo 11 mission, puts the first man on the moon.
Landing was made inside the Lunar Module 'Eagle'.

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 History of Robotics

Unimate 1 Shakey

Moon Walk

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 History of Robotics

• 1970 - Luna 17 lands on the moon, carrying the roving remote-

controlled robot, Lunokhod 1.
• 1971 - Intel introduce the first commercially available
microprocessor, the 4004.
• 1971 -1973 – The Stanford Arm is developed, along with the first
language for programming robots - WAVE.
• 1972 – First snake-like robot – ACM III – Hirose – Tokyo Inst. Of
Tech.
• 1970’s – JPL develops its first planetary exploration Rover using
a TV camera, laser range finder and tactile sensors.
• 1975 - The space probes Viking 1 and 2 were launched each
with an articulated robot arm.
• 1976 - The film Star Wars is released introducing R2-D2 and
C-3PO.

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 History of Robotics

• 1977 – Development of mobile robot Hilaire at Laboratoise

d’Automatique et d’Analyse des Systemes (LAAS) in
Toulouse, France. This mobile robot had three wheels and it is
still in use.

Two famous robots:

• 1978- Puma (Programmable Universal Machine for
Assembly), by Unimation.
• 1979 - SCARA (Selective Compliant Articulated Robot for
Assembly) introduced in Japan and the US (by Adept
Technologies).

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History of Robotics - PUMA

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History of Robotics - SCARA

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 History of Robotics

• 1980’s – Innovation in improving the performance of robot arms –

feedback control to improve accuracy, program compliance, the
introduction of personal computers as controllers, and
commercialization of robots by a large number of companies: KUKA
(Germany), IBM 7535, Adept Robot (USA), Hitachi, Seiko (Japan).

• Early 1980’s – Multi-fingered hands developed, Utah-MIT arm (16

DOF) developed by Steve Jacobsen, Salisbury’s hand (9 dof).

• 1977-1983 – Stanford cart/CMU rover developed by Hans Moravec,

later on became the Nomad mobile robot.

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 History of Robotics

• 1980’s – Legged and hopping robots (BIPER – Shimoyama) and

Raibert 1986.

• 1984 -1991 – V. Braitenberg revived the tortoise mobile

robots of W. Grey Walter creating autonomous robots
exhibiting behaviors. Hogg, Martin and Resnick at MIT create
mobile robots using LEGO blocks (precursor to LEGO
Mindstorms). Rodney Brooks at MIT creates first insect robots
at MIT AI Lab – birth of behavioral robotics.

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 History of Robotics

• 1986 - Honda starts work on its first humanoid,

robot named 'E0' (later to become ASIMO).
• 1988 - SCAMP designed as the first robot pet with emotions.
• 1989 - Mark Tilden introduces BEAM robotics, beam being an
acronym for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics.
• ‘90: modifiable robots for assembly. Mobile autonomous
robots. Vision controlled robots. Walking robots.
• 1991 - First HelpMate mobile autonomous robot used in
hospitals.

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 History of Robotics

• 1990’s – Humanoid robots – Cog, Kismet (MIT), Wasubot,

WHL-I – Japan, Honda P2 (1.82m, 210kg), and P3 (1.6m,
130kg), ASIMO.

• 1990’s – Entertainment and Education Robots – SARCOS

(“Jurassic Park”), Sony AIBO, LEGO Mindstorms, Khepera,
Parallax.

• ROBOCUP, the competition simulating the game of soccer

played by two teams of robots having been held around the
world since 1997 (Osaka) .

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 History of Robotics

• 1997 - Sojourner becomes the first rover to land on

Mars as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission.
• 1998 - Lego enters the robotics market with its first
version of Lego Mindstorms.
• 1999 - Sony introduces AIBO, an autonomous robotic
dog capable of seeing, walking and interacting with
its environment. This was followed a year later by the
SDR-3X humanoid robot later known as QRIO (both
discontinued in 2006).

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 History of Robotics

• 1990’s – Introduction of space robots (manipulators as well as

rovers – the MARS rover 1996), parallel manipulators
(Stewart-Gough Platforms), multiple manipulators, precision
robots (“Robotworld”), surgical robots (“RoboDoc”), first
service robots (as couriers in hospitals, etc)

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 History of Robotics
• 2000 - Honda unveils ASIMO, the first non-prototype
release of its humanoid robot.

• 2001 - US Air force test the MQ-1 Predator, the first

armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fitted with two
Hellfire missiles.

• 2000’s – IRobot introduces the first autonomous vacuum

– “Roomba”.

• 2000’s – Mini and micro robots, “Smart Dust” – Pister @

Berkeley, UTA, EPFL/Lausanne, microfactories.

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 History of Robotics

• 2000’s – Military applications - Robotic assistants for

dangerous environments and reconnaissance, AUV’s
and UUV’s, etc.

• 2000’s – Intuitive Surgical introduces the Da Vinci

surgical robot.

• 2000’s – Robotic Deployment of Sensor Networks

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 History of Robotics

Lunokhod 1 Intel 4004 R2-D2 and C-3PO

Asimo Sojourner Lego Mindstorms

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 History of Robotics

Sony AIBO
MQ-1 Predator

Sony QRIO

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 History of Robotics
• 2002 - iRobot introduces Roomba, a personal robotic vacuum
cleaner.
• 2003 - Osaka University unveils their first 'Actroid', the term
given for a humanoid robot with strong visual human
characteristics.
• 2004 - The first DARPA Grand challenge is help. Sponsored by
the US department of defence, the challenge is designed to
create autonomous vehicles for warfare.
• 2004 - The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity land on Mars. As
of November 25th 2009 The rover Spirit has completed 2150
days of its 92 day (90 sol) mission.
• 2010 - NASA and General Motors join forces to develop
Robonaut-2, the new version of NASA's humanoid robot
astronaut.

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 History of Robotics

Actroid

Robonaut-2

Mars Exploration Rover

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 History of Robotics
Should robots look like humans?
“anthropomorphic or humanoid robots”.
Need for these machines to also be
intelligent - link to “Artificial Intelligence
(AI)”.

Need for humans to create machines

similar to them is rooted in religious beliefs,
recommended reading “God in the
Machine” by Anne Foerst

It is not the appearance of the robot that

most connects it to humans: HAL in “Space
Odyssey 2001”, Lt. Data in “Startrek-
TNG”, R2D2 and C3PO in “Star Wars”.
Which one is more “likeable” and why?

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 History of Robotics
Robots need not look like humanoids, but they make use of:

Strong & precise articulated arms to accomplish tasks that

were performed by humans – “articulated robots”, or
“manipulators”. Fear that they will replace human
laborers.

Use of mobility to reposition the robot from one location to

another, “mobile robots”. This can be done by locomotion
like humans do (“legged robots”), but most likely it will
use other means such as wheels (“wheeled robots”).

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 History of Robotics
• Robotics is a multi-disciplinary field. Best robotics
researchers and engineers will touch upon all disciplines:

• Mechanical Engineering – concerned primarily with

manipulator/mobile robot design, kinematics, dynamics,
compliance and actuation.
• Electrical Engineering – concerned primarily with robot
actuation, electronic interfacing to computers and
sensors, and control algorithms.
• Computer Science – concerned primarily with robot
programming, planning, and intelligent behavior.

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So What is a Robot?

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Watch videos:

• KUKA, spot welding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-J_EzKm_70
• KUKA dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW4cYdsUpAw&feature=
related

• Industrial robotics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBLEPlznHWY&feature=re
lated
• Arc welding robot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HphVrleXlQ&feature=rel
ated

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ASIMO:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HphVrleXlQ&feature=relate
d
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4rgaLW163k&feature=relat
ed
CyberDog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0qYob_vSgo&feature=relat
ed
Robot-Araigne:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Mfjn79o
iM0Q&NR=1

Hexapod Robot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uKIDyFMTyQ&feature=related

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• Hexapod Project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65L_FO8cBgA&feature=related
• MTRAN Modular Robot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSavAHf0dg&feature=related

Also watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkqesLSXe4Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilbT2QcPGv0&feature=relmfu

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 Robots: An Introduction
• A robot can be defined as a computer controlled machine with
some degrees of freedom
– that is, the ability to move about in its environment
• A robot typically has
– sensors to sense its environment, particularly to make sure it does not
hit any obstacles in its way
– goals (otherwise there is no need to have the robot)
– planning to determine how to accomplish those goals
• some robots are pre-programmed with the plan steps to carry out the given goals
so planning is not needed
– path planning to determine how to move about its environment using
the available degrees of freedom
• this may be the motion of an arm to pick something up or it may be a series of
movements to physically move it from location 1 to location 2
• The robot usually has a 3-phase sequence of operations: sense
(perception), process (interpretation and planning), action 51
 Types of Robots
• Mobile robots – robots that move freely in their environment
– We can subdivide these into indoor robots, outdoor robots, terrain
robots, etc based on the environment(s) they are programmed to
handle
• Robotic arms – stationary robots that have manipulators,
usually used in construction (e.g., car manufacturing plants)
– These are usually not considered AI because they do not perform
planning and often have little to no sensory input
• Autonomous vehicles – like mobile robots, but in this case,
they are a combination of vehicle and computer controller
– Autonomous cars, autonomous plane drones, autonomous
helicopters, autonomous submarines, autonomous space probes
– There are different classes of autonomous vehicles based on the
level of autonomy, some are only semi-autonomous
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 Continued
• Soft robots – robots that use soft computing
approaches (e.g., fuzzy logic, neural networks)
• Mimicking robots – robots that learn by mimicking
– For instance robots that learn facial gestures or those that
learn to touch or walk or play with children
• Softbots – software agents that have some degrees of
freedom (the ability to move) or in some cases,
software agents that can communicate over networks
• Nanobots – theoretical at this point, but like mobile
robots, they will wander in an environment to
investigate or make changes
– But in this case, the environment will be microscopic
worlds, e.g., the human body, inside of machines 53
 Current Uses of Robots
• There are over 3.5 million robots in use in society of which,
about 1 million are industrial robots
– 50% in Asia, 32% in Europe, 16% in North America
• Factory robot uses:
– Mechanical production, e.g., welding, painting
– Packaging – often used in the production of packaged food,
drinks, medication
– Electronics – placing chips on circuit boards
– Automated guided vehicles – robots that move along tracks, for
instance as found in a hospital or production facility
• Other robot uses:
– Bomb disabling
– Exploration (volcanoes, underwater, other planets)
– Cleaning – at home, lawn mowing, cleaning pipes in the field, etc
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– Fruit harvesting
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 Robot Software Architectures
• Traditionally, the robot is modeled with centralized
control
– That is, a central processor running a central process is
responsible for planning
– Other processors are usually available to control motions
and interpret sensor values
• passing the interpreted results back to the central processor
• In such a case, we must implement a central
reasoning mechanism with a pre-specified
representation
– Requiring that we identify a reasonable process for
planning and a reasonable representation for
representing the plan in progress and the environment56
 Forms of Software Architectures
• Human controlled – of no interest to us in AI
• Synchronous – central control of all aspects of the robot
• Asynchronous – central control for planning and decision
making, distributed control for sensing and moving parts
• Insect-based – with multiple processors, each processor
contributes as if they constitute a colony of insects
contributing to some common goal
• Reactive – no pre-planning, just reaction (usually
synchronized), also known as behavioral control
– A compromise is to use a 3-layered architecture, the bottom
layer is reactive, the middle layer keeps track of reactions to
make sure that the main plan is still be achieved, and the top
level is for planning that is used when reactive planning is not
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needed