This award is to purchase an autonomous robot with on- board drive system, processors for navigation and control, sensors and embedded controllers, ultrasonic sonar sensing, pyroelectric motion sensors, touch sensors, low-cost vision and optical sensors, and stereo cameras. The equipment will provide the supporting technology for several research projects in the areas of robotic sensing, planning, and control in unstructured environments. Much of the research in robotics and machine vision has been confined to problems of a static nature. Acquisition of an autonomous mobile robot with a vision system will provide Cornell University with the supporting technology for research projects in recognition and recognizability, motion and shape from image sequences, and sensor interpretation and task-directed planning.
