Fellow HIVERS:
Some of you will recall the (real) Stanford University free on-line AI
class opportunity from a few months back. Sebastian has emailed a
follow-up on that and made a new next class opportunity
announcement.
The new class has application opportunities for our Cin-D LOU house
bot project locomotion effort.
From last week we were settling on a CinD-LOU locomotion version 1
concept based on line-following. We would put a masking tape path
down on the HIVE floor that would be sort of like a streetcar line
having a fixed-track/main-line/path/loop, with stops and perhaps
switches (diverging paths) onto side tracks/paths/spurs. This version
1 would be very much like an industrial AGVS (Automatic Guided Vehicle
System) in a factory, but at our price-points and functionality.
There is lots of prior art and web references to use. SAFETY must be
a top priority in this. Keeping this house bot on a known/defined
path in a room full of people is probably wise. Also AGVS's have well
understood safety features like out-front non-contact sonar/kinect
obstacle detection and on-board front and back physical-contact e-stop
safety-bumpers to incorporate early on before we set her out on her
own.
Still, the new AI class below is an education opportunity for those so
inclined and goes to Sebastian's prior art making the self-driving
GOOGLE car. This could be a highly desirable version 2 locomotion
concept to consider either as a series or parallel implementation
path. Version 2 would be neat when we cart CinD LOU up to the next
Detroit MAKER FAIRE.
Jim