MOBILE ROBOTS DIFFER FROM CONVENTIONAL VEHICLES IN THAT THEY ARE DRIVEN BY COMPUTERS AND NOT BY HUMANS.

MOBILE ROBOTS DIFFER FROM CONVENTIONAL VEHICLES IN THAT THEY ARE DRIVEN BY COMPUTERS AND NOT BY HUMANS. THIS FACT HAS PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS BEARING ON THE BASIC DESIGN OF THE VEHICULAR PART OF THE ROBOT. HUMAN DRIVERS HAVE EXCELLENT SENSORY CAPABILITIES WHICH ARE THOROUGHLY INTEGRATED TO A HIERARCHIAL, SELF RESTRUCTURING NERVOUS SYSTEM. TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY CAN PROVIDE MOBILE ROBOTS WITH ONLY A SHADOW OF THESE CAPACITIES. BEFORE BEGINNING TO STUDY THE BASIC STRUCTURES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, SENSORY INTEGRATION, AND CONTROL IT IS ESSENTIAL TO FIRST STRIP AWAY ALL UNNECESSARY ENCUMBERMENTS POSED BY THE VEHICLE AND ITS SUPPORT SYSTEM. AT THIS POINT, A LARGE NUMBER OF MOBILE ROBOT RESEARCH PROJECTS HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN, AND A WEALTH OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE IS SPREAD AMONG THESE GROUPS. CYBERMATION, AS ONE OF THE FIRST MANUFACTURERS OF INDUSTRIAL QUALITY MOBILE ROBOTS, HAS ALSO GAINED SIGNIFICANT INSIGHTS INTO THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCH MACHINES. A STUDY IS PROPOSED THAT WILL CANVAS AS MANY EXPERIENCED GROUPS AS POSSIBLE, IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR A RESEARCH VEHICLE. THESE CHARACTERISTICS WILL THEN BE USED TO GENERATE A DESIGN SPECIFICATION FOR AN OPTIMAL PLATFORM.