Product Description

* Teaches the concepts of behavior-based programming through text, programming examples, and a unique online simulator robot

* Explains how to design new behaviors by manipulating old ones and adjusting programming

* Does not assume reader familiarity with robotics or programming languages

* Includes a section on designing your own behavior-based system from scratch (20040601)

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75399 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
history and theory behind behavior-based programming... teaches skills needed for programming... test[s]... expertise... intuitive... deconstructs robot control into simple behaviors -- Sci-Tech Book News, June 2004

Review
Jones, one of the inventors of the first widely adopted consumer robot,introduces the history and theory behind behavior-based programming, teaches skills needed for programming a robot, and provides readers with a virtual robot on a web site to test programming expertise. Using an intuitive method, he deconstructs robot control into simple behaviors that are easy to program and debug for inexpensive microcontrollers with little memory. No background is required in programming or robotics. (Sci-Tech Book News )

From the Back Cover
MASTER ROBOT PROGRAMMING ITH YOUR OWN FREE VIRTUAL 'BOT!

This ingenious book/Web site partnership teaches the skills you need to program a robot -- and gives you a virtual robot waiting online to perform your commands and test your programming expertise. You don't need to know either robotics or programming to get started!

Using an intuitive method, Robot Programming deconstructs robot control into simple and distinct behaviors that are easy to program and debug for inexpensive microcontrollers with little memory. Once you've mastered programming your online 'bot, you can easily adapt your programs for use in physical robots.

Though Robot Programming smoothes the path to acquiring skills in this arcane art, it does not reduce it to simplistics. With this resource, you can open the door to all the complexity, sophistication, versatility, and robustness that it is possible for robot behavior to exhibit.

WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR ROBOT TO DO?
Robot Programming's hands-on approach to behavior-based robotics--
* Teaches you intuitively, with a system that integrates explanation, code examples, and exercises using an online robot simulator
* Demonstrates programming for mobile robots
* Gives you the tools to combine sensors with robot skills
* Shows you how to develop new robot behaviors by manipulating old ones and adjusting programming parameters
* Provides examples of programming for object seeking, object avoidance, decision-making, and much more
* Leads you to advanced strategies for designing your own behavior-based systems from scratch
* Introduces the history and theory behind behavior-based programming
* Requires no background in either programming or robotics

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Customer Reviews

Accessible guide to behavior-based robotics
Behavior-based robotics is quite simply the design of robots where there are no internal "models" of the environment. Instead, the robot's action is state-machine driven via inputs gleaned from the robot's sensors. This book gives very practical advice on building and programming such a robot. Some mathematics is involved, so the reader who knows trigonometry, algebra, and the basics of computer programming would be best prepared to make good use of this book.
Chapter 1 uses the author's Java-based simulator, BSim, to observe the behavior of a working simulated robot. This chapter tries to answer the big picture questions : What exactly is a robot and what are its essential components?
Chapter 2 reviews the concept of the feedback control system in a very accessible fashion. The author uses examples from BSim to demonstrate how good control systems can go bad.
Chapter 3 shows how to build primitive behaviors, introduces the concept of triggers, and discusses ballistic versus servo behaviors.
Chapter 4 deals with arbiters, which is the software construct that all behavior-based systems must have to manage conflict between behaviors.
Chapter 5 begins instruction on writing complete behavior-based programs using everything learned up to this point. Included are techniques for homing, avoidance, and wall-following.
Chapter 6 discusses the task of decomposing a problem into the design of a robot. This chapter specifically discusses the design of "SodaBot", a robot which moves empty soda cans to recycling bins.
Chapter 7 takes a software-centered look at various common sensors, how they function, and the ways that sensor output can be misleading.
Chapter 8 rounds out the book with a case study of a behavior-based robot implementation. The example is a simple one, but it incorporates all software elements needed by any behavior-based robot. The author uses his own "RoCK", which is short for "Robot Conversion Kit", which is a self-contained electronics and sensor package based on Atmel's AVR AT90S8535 microcontroller. The author does an excellent job of discussing the code that must be written to make the robot perform as described.
Chapter 9 is the author's speculation on the features and forms of future robots.
The appendices have useful information on the mathematics of differential drive, the author's simulator "BSim", and some frequently used functions and their pseudocode. Each chapter contains exercises that are design-oriented and therefore have open-ended solutions. Thus there are no solutions given in the book or at its website.
Although this book does an excellent job of covering all of the aspects of programming a behavior-based robot, the reader might benefit from the other major text on the subject, "Behavior-Based Robotics (Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents)" by Ronald Arkin. That book is much more academic and less practical than this one, and it is also rather expensive. Thus, it might be best if you can get it used or from a library. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in behavior-based robots and in the practical details of creating and programming them.

A Practical Guide Indeed
You can really see that Jones knows what he is talking about reading this book, and you can see the influence participation in making a practical robot (Roomba) for mass production has had on Jones thinking. Previously Jones authored _Mobile Robots_ with Anita Flynn, a product of MIT research. Now Jones brings many practical and useful explanations in very easily understood terms to the beginner, and hidden depth to the experienced robot programmer. While many of the research level books talk "about" Behavior-Based Programming in general terms, Jones descends into specifics, such as the inner workings of arbitration, and some of the different schemes used, and the difference between ballistic and servo behaviors. Well written, an easy read, and deceptively meaty exercises. One of the appendices of the book cover some much-needed common algorithms. Another the mathematics of differential drive. Plus, this book has a companion web site, also covered in a appendix, written by Daniel Roth, where you can get your own free virtual robot to "play" with and control. You can run your own experiments with their pre-canned behaviors, and watch the results of your concept level programming in simulated action. More than a book, this is a learning opportunity for anyone wanting to understand practical robot programming "behavior style".

Excellent introduction to Behavior-based AI
I first read Jones' previous book ("Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation") back in 1999 and was very excited to see how simple AI could be.

This new book goes much deeper in the art of designing behavior-based robots and does a great job at it. And Even though I had already gainged a lot of experience programming my own robots, I still found it very stimulating and learned a thing or two.

I highly recommend this to any aspiring roboticist, and even the old pros!