06421 Executive Summary – Robot Navigation

For quite a number of years, researchers from various fields have studied problems motivated by Robot Navigation. People in Online Algorithms have developed strategies that can deal with the inherent lack of information an autonomous robot encounters, as it sets out to perform a task in an unknown environment. Computational Geometers have obtained many results on the efficient planning of collision-free motions, and on visibility problems. Scientists and engineers in Robotics have perfected real robots to an astounding degree. Economic household robots and artificial pets are now available; more complex robots are able to carry out difficult search-and-rescue and exploration missions. The goal of this seminar is to bring together researchers from robotics, computational geometry, and online algorithms, in order to exchange problems and ideas, and to jointly work towards solutions. The following questions seem crucial. Given the advanced level of technical development, what are the strategic planning problems researchers in robotics need to solve in the next decade? How can real environments and robots be modeled, so that planning problems become tractable by algorithmic methods, and solutions are still significant for applications? In particular, what can be assumed about perception and motion accuracy? We are planning for plenary sessions where members of all groups can present their problems and recent work. In addition, there will be plenty of time for discussions.