STRANDS

STRANDS will produce intelligent mobile robots that are able to run for months in dynamic human environments. We will provide robots with the longevity and behavioural robustness necessary to make them truly useful assistants in a wide range of domains. Such long-lived robots will be able to learn from a wider range of experiences than has previously been possible, creating a whole new generation of autonomous systems able to extract and exploit the structure in their worlds.

Our approach is based on understanding 3D space and how it changes over time, from milliseconds to months. We will develop novel approaches to extract spatio-temporal structure from sensor data gathered during months of autonomous operation. Extracted structure will include reoccurring 3D shapes, objects, people, and models of activity. We will also develop control mechanisms which exploit these structures to yield adaptive behaviour in highly demanding, realworld security and care scenarios.

Coordinator
Nick Hawes
School of Computer Science
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham, B15 2TT
UK
n.a.hawes@cs.bham.ac.uk
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~nah/