We present a framework for the design and implementation of visually-guided, interactive, mobile robots. Essential to the framework's robust performance is our behavior-based robot control architecture enhanced with a state of the art decision-theoretic planner that takes into account the temporal characteristics of robot actions and allows us to achieve principled coordination of complex subtasks implemented as robot behaviors/skills. We study two different models of the decision theoretic layer: Multiply Sectioned Markov Decision Processes (MSMDPs) under the assumption that the world state is fully observable by the agent, and Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) that remove the latter assumption and allow us to model the uncertainty in sensor measurements. The MSMDP model utilizes a divide-and-conquer approach for solving problems with millions of states using concurrent actions. For solving large POMDPs, we present heuristics that improve the computational efficiency of the point-based value iteration algorithm while tackling the problem of multi-step actions using Dynamic Bayesian Networks. In addition, we describe a state-of-the-art simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm for robots equipped with stereo vision. We first present the Monte-Carlo algorithm sigmaMCL for robot localization in 3D using natural landmarks identified by their appearance in images. Secondly, we extend sigmaMCL and develop the sigmaSLAM algorithm for solving the simultaneous localization and mapping problem for visually-guided, mobile robots. We demonstrate our real-time algorithm mapping large, indoor environments in the presence of large changes in illumination, image blurring and dynamic objects. Finally, we demonstrate empirically the applicability of our framework for developing interactive, mobile robots capable of completing complex tasks with the aid of a human companion. We present an award winning robot waiter for serving hors d'oeuvres at receptions and a robot for delivering verbal messages among inhabitants of an office-like environment.

Localization and mapping are important abilities for any robot to have if it wants to navigate intelligently in the real world. The goal of the research designed in this thesis was to develop a practical embedded visual odometer that utilized common features found in real world environments. The visual odometer is a system that measures the self motion of a mobile robot using visual feeback. The developed visual odometer was tested on a custom mobile robot in several different tests that were derived from the robotic soccer domain. This system’s performance was compared to two other systems. These systems were a KLT feature tracker based robot and a commercial shaft encoder based robot. The results of the completed tests showed that the developed visual odometer’s performance was less than expected. It also showed that this system has good potential. As well, the test results showed the limitations of using a KLT feature tracker based robot and that the commercial shaft encoder based robot also had performance less than expected. / October 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 218-236).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-69). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-143).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2008. / Vita. Advisor: David H. Laidlaw. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-157).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carnegie Mellon University, 2003. / "September 2003." Includes bibliographical references.

It is now possible for physical objects to have a dynamic digital presence via active identification codes that can be scanned via ubiquitous devices such as smart phones or tablets. En-co.de is a web service for the generation, storing, retrieval, and augmentation of metadata associated with physical objects. The service is built upon the concept that metadata associated with an object can be retrieved through a Quick Response (QR) coded URL. En-co.de serves to link a physical entity to a digital archive of information and provides services such as geolocation and SMS text alerts when an object's identifier, or tag, is scanned. I provide an analysis of QR code qualitative characteristics, the architecture for the en-co.de web service, a scalability study of the en-co.de architecture, and the results of the completed service in production in this report. In addition, the analysis is complemented with an evaluation of comparable identification schemes and web services. / text

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