Welcome to the Robotics Home Page

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Department of Computer Science
University of Otago
New Zealand


Index


See also, The Department of Computer Science home page and The University of Otago home page.


Introduction

Robots are a great tool for artificial intelligence research. They combine theoretical challenges in topics such as vision, navigation, planning, and control, with the very practical requirements of making the thing work! Robots can be used to explore different approaches to artificial intelligence, both traditional symbolic methods and more "biological" approaches such as neural networks, evolutionary computation, and computational neuroethology. Ultimately there is also the philosophical issue at the heart of artificial intelligence today: can true intelligence exist independently, or does it have to be "embodied" / "situated" in a body and an environment?

This page contains pointers to general information about robots, and to descriptions of robotics research and teaching at the University of Otago.


Robotics Information

  • Robot Information Central is a wonderful site with links to FAQs, books and magazines, robotics at NASA, cartoons, university sites, groups and clubs, and much more. It's the only robot site you need!
  • The University of Massachusetts Robotics Internet Resources Page includes links to FAQs, ftp and gopher sites, as well as a long list of robotics Web resources.
  • Carnegie Mellon University provides a list of established Graduate Programs in robotics, listed by country and university.
  • Some competitions to take a look at are Robocup Robot Soccer and the IEEE Robotics Competition.
  • The comp.robotics FAQ is a really useful general introduction to robotics, of which there are 6 parts. These are stored locally and were last checked Febuary 1999.

    Part0
    Part1
    Part2
    Part3
    Part4
    Part5
    Please use these local copies first, but Part0 tells you where you can get the latest version on the Web if necessary.

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Robotics at Otago

  • Robotics has become a popular topic at Otago! The Department has started a new robotics lab on the first floor of Archway West - downstairs from the AI lab. A robotics project (Cosc490) is underway in 1998 and more will be offered in 1999.
  • A "big" robot is currently under construction. This robot will be fully independent and mobile, with a vision system based on two colour Quickcams and an "arm" for manipulating objects.
  • Smaller robots have been built to navigate a maze environment. These can be programmed using Cabbage, an event-driven language. Cabbage and the maze robots were been developed in 1998/99 by a group largely based in the Graphics lab. They have been demonstrated in an exhibition at Forbury Park and at University open days, and have been used in the Hands on Science Summer school program for high school students.
  • Allan Hayes has also built a small robot equipped with infrared sensors for simple obstacle avoidance and line following.
  • The Knowledge Engineering and Computational Intelligence Laboratory in the Information Science Department explores topics in intelligent control, and has done some work on simulated robots.

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WWW Information

  • List to be updated (28 June 2002)

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This page is maintained by Anthony Robins ( anthony@cs.otago.ac.nz ) at the Computer Science Department, University of Otago, New Zealand. Last modified 28 June 2002 by Sui-Ling Ming-Wong.