This lecture provides an introduction to the field of mobile robotics and the intersection between multiple robotics-related disciplines including electrical, mechanical, computer, software engineering and computer science. It is intended for an upper-level undergraduate or first-year graduate students interested in mobile robotics and artificial intelligence with some experience in object-oriented programming and controls. Focus areas will include robotics history, hardware, control and software. Specific topics include robot components, effectors and actuators, locomotion, kinematics, sensors, feedback control, control architectures, representation, navigation, localization and mapping. The end of each chapter includes review questions as well as exercises to provide applications for the concepts as well as opportunities for further study.
Table of Contents: Introduction / Hardware / Control / Software

Introduction.- Hardware.- Control.- Software.

Dr. Carlotta A. Berry is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at RoseHulman Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and her thesis was on the development of an enhanced human-robot interface for a mobile robot. She has a Master's degree is from Wayne State University,and holds two bachelor's degrees:one in mathematics from Spelman College and one in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. She has been an active member of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 2004. Her research interests include multidisciplinary educational robotics, human-robot interfaces and identifying strategies to increase enrollment and retention of women and minorities in engineering. She is the co-founder of the first multidisciplinary minor in robotics at Rose-Hulman, and she is also co-PI of the Rose-Hulman building undergraduate diversity (ROSE-BUD) program funded by an NSF S-STEM grant to increase the recruitment, retention and development of underrepresented populations in electrical and computer engineering.