Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, Vanderbilt University
At Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering, the Center for Intelligent Systems showcases the school’s capability to advance state-of-the-art intelligent systems using research and development of intelligent-embodied agents like autonomous robots.
Here, two research laboratories are housed: the Cognitive Robotics Lab and the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory. The latter, which is the IRL at Vanderbilt University, deals mainly with the research on mobile robotics. Here, operational robots like the ATRV-Jr. (a Scooter robot), the PIONEER2-AT and the track-driven Matilda robot are being utilized for research purposes.
The ATRV-Jr has sonar, lidar, compass and DGPS sensors along with pan-tilt vision system, while the Pioneer2-AT comes with sonar and a 360 degree camera. The Matilda robot, on the other hand, is equipped with an omni-directional camera, a sonar sensors and inclinometers.
At the IRL, research regarding mobile robots is usually done with the human controller or user located at distant, remote spot. This is to show how the robot can fully understand what its operator wants it to do, communicate and know the details of the task being required from it.
The lab is also looking for various ways to facilitate natural communication of information about location and navigation. The lab’s Egocentric Navigation, or ENav algorithm, is based on the utilization of angular distribution of landmarks, topography, giving actual descriptions of the machine’s current location, and its target location.
Currently, the laboratory is geared toward the study of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), as well as its research of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); integrating the two systems for various applications that could someday be useful for people.
Its latest research also includes biologically-inspired, adaptive working memory systems for efficient robot manipulation and learning, called working memory.
