ME/CS 132, ME131: Advanced Robotics: Navigation
ME/CS 132 Class Meeting Schedule: Mon./Wed. 9:30-10:30 a.m.; Fri. 10:00-11:00 a.m.
ME 131 Class Meeting Schedule Mon. 10-11 am; Tues. noon-1pm; Wed. noon-1 p.m.
ME 131 Class Location: Thomas 306
Lecturer: Joel Burdick ,
Mail Code 104-44, Room 319 Thomas, (626) 395-4139,
jwb@robotics.caltech.edu
TA: Jeremy Ma, Room 310 Thomas, jerma@caltech.edu,
Office Hours: TBD
Handouts
To the extent possible, all course handouts should be available on
this web site. Photocopied handouts that are not available in on-line
electronic form can be obtained from Mrs. Maria Koeper, Thomas 319.
ME/CS 132 Homework
- Homework #1 (in PDF format). This homework is due Wednesday,
January 28, 2009.
- Homework #2 (in PDF format). This homework is due Friday,
February 13, 2009. (Solutions)
- Homework #3 (in PDF format). This homework is due Friday,
February 20, 2009.
- Homework #4 (in PDF format). This homework is due Wednesday,
March 11, 2009.
ME 131 Homework
Reading
- By Jan. 12, 2009: Read Chapter 1 LaValle's book
- For those who haven't taken ME 115: Read section 3.1 an 3.2
of Lavalle's book. Section 3.1 is not so critical, but the review of
rigid body transformations in Section 3.2 should be well understood
by all.
- By Jan 21, 2009: Read Section 4.3 of Lavalle's book. In order
to read Section 4.3, you will need to read portions of Sections 4.1 and
4.2. Section 4.2.1 is the crucial section in Section 4.2, while the
material in Section 4.1 must only be understood at a surface level at
this point in the course.
- Week of Jan. 26, 2009: Read Sections 5.1.1 and 5.6 of the LaValle
book for background. Then read Sections 6.1, 6.21, and 6.23 of the
LaValle book (they are most relevant to the course lectures).
- Week of Feb. 22, 2009: Read Chapt. 2 Through Sections 2.2.2
- Week of Mar. 2, 2009: Read Chapt. 5 Through Sections 5.4
- Week of Mar 30, 2009: Lavalle Chapt. 5 Through the end of the chapter
Course Texts
1) The main text for the first half of the course is:
- Planning Algorithms by Steve LaValle (UIUC).
You can buy this book
on-line at Amazon . Also, a preprint of the text
is available freely on-line .
This book provides a comprehensive summary of classical motion planning
theory. It also includes excellent reference material on information-space
approaches to planning, and evasion-pursuit algorithms (some of LaValle's
research). While these subjects are beyond the immediate scope of this class,
they accessible to interested students.
2) For the second half of the course, the following book is
recommended (but not required):
- Principles of Robot Motion: Theory, Algorithms, and
Implementations (by Howie Choset, Kevin Lynch, Seth Hutchinson, George
Kantor, Wolfram Burgard, Lydia Kavraki, and Sebastian Thrun ).
This text is also
available at Amazon (in both new and used versions).
3) Interested students may wish to also consult the following classic (but now
out-of-print) text on motion planning:
- Robot Motion Planning by J.C. Latombe.
A copy is available in the Caltech library.
Bulletins/Updates
On-line Resources
Questions and complaints about this web site should be addressed to:
jwb@robotics.caltech.edu