REU Report: Designing a Universal Robotics Platform

Abstract

In this paper, I describe Motion Description Language extended (MDLe), a computer platform designed to communicate with any robot. This platform will integrate the hierarchical ease of behavior-based programming and the mathematics of control theory. The path of a robot is broken down into smaller and smaller pieces, from plans to behaviors to atoms to controls, until it can finally be described by the speeds of the two wheels. A planner will later be added to perform path planning. All possible paths will be calculated using control theory, then some will be ruled out due to the non-holonomic constraint. The rest will then be considered to find the optimum path to complete the task. The ultimate goal of this research is to create a system that can autonomously navigate the robot through unfamiliar surroundings.