COLONY Introduction September 11, 2009

1. COLONY Introduction September 11, 2009

2. Outline • Motivation • Brief Introduction to the Robots • Recent Colony Work • Current Research • Administrative Things

3. Motivation • Create a colony of robots that does cool stuff • Interesting research platform • Emergent behaviors • Robotic cooperation • Multi-agent interaction • Distributed algorithms • Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) • …

4. Why Colonies? • Many successful organisms organize themselves into groups

5. Why a Colony of Robots? • Robustness • Single robot + single failure = game over • Colony of robots + single failure = one robot down • Distributed intelligence and sensing • One robot cannot be everywhere at once • Colonies can collect and communicate data across distant points within an environment • Collective behavior • Cooperation between robots to accomplish complex tasks • Robots are awesome • More robots are more awesome

6. Goals Many low-cost robots Open, usable platform Capable hardware Robust open-source code base Research Multi-robot applications Distributed algorithms Emergent behaviors Fun Stuff 6

7. Brief Colony History • Project started in 2003 by Steve Shamlian • Robots • Firefly I, II • Dragonfly • BOM, BOM 1.5 • Many research grants • URO - Over 10 Small Undergraduate Research Grants • Ford Motor Company • Robotics Institute • 2 Papers / Conferences • NCUR – National Conferences on Undergraduate Research • AAAI – Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

8. Project Leaders John Sexton Austin Buchan Chris Mar Current Members Jimmy Bourne Megan Dority Emily Hart Rich Hong Abe Levkoy Evan Mullinix Distinguished Alumni James Kong Kevin Woo Bradford Neuman Nico Paris Ben Poole Justin Scheiner David Schultz Active Members

9. Robots

10. Dragonfly 10

11. Dragonfly – Front View Front IR Rangefinders 11

12. Dragonfly – Back View Side IR Rangefinders 12

13. Communication Bearing and Orientation Module (BOM) Localization sensor IR emitter/detector array Relative angle measurements to other robots 13

14. Communication XBee wireless module 30m indoor range / 100m outdoor range IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) 2.4 GHz Low-cost, low-power Open industry standard 14

16. Recent Colony Work

17. Behaviors • Individual and multiple robot behaviors • Simple local interactions can yield complex global actions • Emergent behavior • Use sensor data to control actions

18. Behaviors • Past Projects: • Obstacle Avoidance • Cooperative Maze Solving • “Follow the Leader” • “Marching Band” 1.0

19. Autonomous Recharging • Battery charge is limited • Recharging batteries is a pain • Let the robots charge themselves!

20. Mapping • Autonomous wall following • Obstacle detection using rangefinders • Position estimation using encoders • Wireless data collection

21. Simulator • Test robot behaviors quickly • Develop behaviors independently of hardware problems • Develop code even when robots are out of reach • Simulating 100 robots is a lot cheaper than having 100 robots

22. Diagnostic Station • Inconsistent sensors are consequence of inexpensive colony • Calibrate and characterize sensors for every robot • Automate colony maintenance

23. Current + Future Work • Formation Control (SURG Grant) • Description • Make robots form and maintain a spatial relationship • Stay in formation while moving as a group • Applications • Cooperative Mapping • Cooperative Object Manipulation • “Marching Band” 2.0 • Distributed Search Algorithms • <Your Idea Here>

24. FAQ

25. FAQ • Why should I join Colony? • Experience with robots • Learn about all phases of research • Proposals (i.e. SURG) • Robotics (design, programming) • Presentation • Awesome long-term project • Experience with motivated, talented team • Exposure to embedded systems, sensors, wireless communication, mobile robotics

26. FAQ • Do I need to know (skill) ? • No! • But you are expected to take an active role in learning • Club members will provide assistance • How much time will this take? • Expect at least 3-10 solid hours per week • The more you put in, the more you get out of it

27. FAQ • How do I get started? • Make sure we can contact you • Get added to the email list:rc-colony@lists.andrew.cmu.edu • Email cmar@andrew.cmu.edu to get added • Attend work meetings • First three weeks of meetings will be geared towards getting you up to speed

28. AdministrativeThings

29. Meetings • Project Meetings • Fridays, 4:30pm. NSH 1109 • Cookies! • Everyone. Every time. • Status updates, administrative matters • Work Meetings • Monday and Wednesday, 6:30pm – 8:30pm in the Club Room

30. Work Meetings • First few weeks are special! • Hands-on labs to bring you up to speed • Labs will be released online • Can work independently if unable to make work meetings • Members will be in the Club during work meeting hours • Bring your laptops! • Available computers are limited

31. Colony Introduction Schedule • Lab0 - Dance Competition • [Release date: 9/11/09] [Demo date: 9/18/09] • Lab1 - Dead Reckoning • [Release date: 9/18/09] [Demo date: 9/25/09] • Lab2 - Hunter-Prey • [Release date: 9/25/09] [Demo date: 10/2/09]

32. Things You Should Look At • C Programming Tutorial • http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/cclass/notes/top.html • Chapters 1 – 3 • Don’t worry about compiling; we’ll show you that • WinAVR • Compiler, linker, loader package for programming our robots • Programmer’s Notepad • Code (text) editor bundled with WinAVR for convenient programming • SVN – Subversion • Source control • Redmine • Wiki • Task management system

33. Advisor • George Kantor • RI Project Scientist • Teaches several RI classes • Controls, sensor networks, … • Knows a thing or two about robots • Busy guy

34. Important Emails/Web • Colony list • rc-colony@lists.andrew.cmu.edu – new people • Project Leaders: • jsexton@andrew.cmu.edu • abuchan@andrew.cmu.edu • cmar@andrew.cmu.edu • Web: • www.robotcolony.org