15491 AIBO ROBOT PROGRAMMING

This course will introduce students all the bits of creating a complete intelligent robot. Robots need to be equipped with perception, cognition, and action capabilities. We will use the concrete Sony AIBO robots to understand in depth the issues involved in developing such capabilities in a robot. The course will have one 2 hour weekly lecture and a 1 hour weekly recitation/lab session, followed necessarily by hands-on work of the students. The course work will be intense and structured around tasks to be fully implemented in the AIBO robots. Evaluation will be based on the level of accomplishment of such tasks. We expect to be able to ask work on tasks that involve more than one robot, therefore studying issues underlying multirobot systems. All course materials, including student solutions to the tasks, will be made available on the Web. We will aim at having this course be exemplary for other universities that may use the AIBO robots. Prerequisite: 15211.

16720 COMPUTER VISION

This course deals with the science and engineering of computer vision, that is, the analysis of patterns in visual images of the world with the goal of reconstructing and understanding the objects and processes in the world that are producing them. The emphasis is on physical, mathematical, and information processing aspects of vision. Topics covered include image formation and representation, camera geometry and calibration, multi-scale analysis, segmentation, contour and region analysis, energy-based techniques, reconstruction of based on stereo, shading and motion, 3-D surface representation and projection, and analysis and recognition of objects and scenes using statistical and model-based techniques. The material is based on a recent graduate-level textbook augmented with research papers, as appropriate. The course involves considerable Matlab programming exercises.

18349 EMBEDDED REALTIME SYSTEMS

The term “computer” usually conjures up in the minds of many people the image of a mainframe, a minicomputer, a PC, a workstation or a laptop computer. However, computers have always been embedded into all sorts of everyday items from automobiles and planes to TVs, in-house entertainment centers and toasters. These are usually called embedded computers or embedded systems, and actually account for more than 90% of all the world’s manufactured processors. In general, users of embedded systems see a specialized function (such as a High-Definition TV) and do not directly think of the computer embedded within the system. Such embedded computers are gaining importance as an increasing number of systems use embedded processors, RAM, disk drives, and networks. Embedded systems range in size from simple toasters and mini-robots to large-scale systems deployed in process control, manufacturing, power generation, defense systems, telecommunication systems, automotive systems, air traffic control, avionics, video-on-demand and video-conferencing systems. Embedded systems also differ from their conventional PC or workstation cousins in several ways. Embedded systems are typically used over long periods of time, will not (or cannot) be programmed or maintained by its endusers, and often face significantly different design constraints such as limited memory, low cost, strict performance guarantees, fail-safe operation, low power, reliability and guaranteed real-time behavior. These embedded systems often use simple executives (OS kernels) or real-time operating systems with typically small footprints, support for real-time scheduling and no hard drives. This introductory course on embedded computing focuses on these issues germane to embedded systems. Prerequisites: 18240 and 15213.

70637 INTERACTIVE MEDIA MANAGEMENT

Interactive media offers a powerful communication method by providing an immersive, self-guided multi-media environment. This lab-based course uses exercises in Macromedia Flash to build animations that demonstrate the capabilities of interactive media. The course provides an introduction to project management methods for interactive media Students learn how to conceptualize, manage, and execute an interactive media project that combines text, illustrations, photographs, animations, sound, and video.