The main focus of the robotics research group is the development of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). With AMRs there are two primary issues to deal with: (1) cognitive behavior, and (2) motion. Cognitive behavior addresses problem solving using sensory inputs and desired goals. Motion deals with aspects of movement from simple robotic arm movement to autonomous rovers in unknown environments. Cognitive behavior is the current focus of the research group. Two projects currently underway involve on-board image processing of video camera inputs for decision making, and the development of an evolutionary computing approach to controller configuration (possibly using field programmable gate arrays). In addition, the controller evolution project is attempting to provide for automatic (rule directed) behavior specification.
