cs148: building intelligent robots

CS148

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Catalog Listing

Addresses the problem of controlling physical systems that operate in dynamic, unpredictable environments. Students, in pairs, build mobile robots and program them to perform simple tasks. Examines major paradigms of robot programming and architectures for building perception and control systems for intelligent robots. Prerequisites: CS 4, 15, or 17. Enrollment limited to 26. Written permission required.

Course Missive

The course missive (PS, PDF) contains information about the structure, grading, policies, and organization of CS148. For those challenged by external applications, the introduction of the missive is as follows:

CS148 will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9--10:20am. Lecture sessions for CS148 will meet in Lubrano (CIT472). For lab sessions, the class format will be more informal, with labs and demonstrations of students work in the MSLab (CIT 167). CS148 will consist of two tracks:

Standard track: Students in the standard track will be using the LEGO Mindstorms kits throughout the course. Since these resources are limited, this track will be limited to 26 students, with one kit to each pair of students. Standard track enrollment will be determined by a lottery weighted towards seniors and concentrators; to be eligible to enter the lottery you must attend the first class and fill out the form you will receive there.
Advanced track: Students in the advanced track will be the Player/Stage/Gazebo robot simulation package for labs and a platform of the (approved) choice for projects. Because Player/Stage/Gazebo is simulation software, enrollment in the advanced track can be expanded based upon the direction of the instructor. Additionally, the advanced track will place greater emphasis on project design and implementation.

The current syllabus is available on the course web page, www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs148. Labs and projects will be posted there as they are assigned, so check the web page and the course newsgroup, brown.cs.cs148, often. The web page is the primary source of information, however, and any important announcements posted on the newsgroup will also be posted on the MOTD page.