Playing It by Ear: An Intelligent Sonar Guided Robot

This thesis describes a Self Contained Independent Mobile Robot (SCIMR) capable of understanding and roving about in a simple but very real world: the Moore School's hallways and intersections. SCIMR learns the topology of his world much as a messenger or taxi driver would, by being told how to get places and piecing the instructions together to form an internal map. SCIMR requires fewer directions as he learns, since new locations may be described relative to places SCIMP already knows. SCIMR is capable of perceiving and remembering his environment, and using his Memories to guide his actions. The robot is totally self contained and requires no external processors or guidance equipment. Unlike wire or stripe guided vehicles, SCIMR requires no environmental preprocessing. Efficient control methodology, especially multiprocessing and multitasking techniques, allows small computers to drive the robot in real time without processor induced delays.