Old Well


Department of Computer Science
College of Arts and Sciences
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


COMP 790-058: Motion Planning in Real and Virtual Worlds

Main Instructor: Dinesh Manocha

Time and Place: MW 11:00-12:15pm, Room: 115
Prerequisites: Undergraduate Algorithms Course, Some Background in Geometry OR Instructor's approval
Textbook: Course Notes and In-Class Handouts
Reference Book LaValle's Book on Planning Algorithms
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COURSE OVERVIEW:

Line Motion is ubiquitous in both the real world and synthetic environments. Representations of motion are central to all computational disciplines that deal with modeling dynamical or kinematic systems in the biological, physical or virtual world. For example, interaction with objects in the virtual environment, design and assembly of electronic appliances, animation of articulated figures, manipulation of nano-structures, modeling of tissues and muscles, etc. Recently, motion planning techniques are also used in computer games and virtual worlds like Second Life to control the motion of the avatar. With the recent advent of consumer robots like the Roomba and development of autonomous ground vehicles (e.g. DARPA Grand Challenge), there is more interest in development in motion and path planning algorithms. In this seminar course, we will study recent advances in motion planning including but not limited to: The course will consist of lectures by the instructors on the fundamental concepts in the areas, student lectures on selected topics of interests, and special guest lectures on recent research or work in progress. The goal of this class is to get students an appreciation of computational methods for motion planning and synthesis. We will discuss various considerations and tradeoffs used in designing various methodologies (e.g. time, space, robustness, and generality). This will include data structures, algorithms, computational methods, their complexity and implementation. Depending on the interests of the students, we may cover topics of interests in related areas. We also plan to use Second Life as a driving application to implement motion planning algorithms.

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LECTURE TOPICS

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Here is a list of lecture topics (subject to change). Schedule and information on each topic (e.g. readings, web pointers) will be added during the semester before each class.

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ASSIGNMENTS AND PROJECTS

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STUDENT COURSE PROJECTS

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STUDENT PROJECTS (FALL 2007)

PAST STUDENT PROJECTS (FALL 2005)

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GUEST LECTURES

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COURSE READING MATERIALS

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Reference Papers Used in Lectures:

AIBO Capabilities

DARPA Grand Challenge

Motion Planning Research at UNC

The GAMMA group at UNC has implemented several distinct motion planning systems:


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INTERESTING LINKS

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GEOMETRIC ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARES AVAILABLE ON THE WEB:

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ADDITIONAL REFERENCE MATERIALS

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Reference Books in Robotics:

Reference Books in Computer Animation:

Reference Books in Geometry:

Reference Books in Mechanics:

Reference Books in Numerical Methods:

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For more information, contact Dinesh Manocha, dm@cs.unc.edu,
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