Description
MAE 4180/5180, CS 3758, ECE 4772/5772
Autonomous Mobile Robots
Homework 1
Changing Reference Frames (30 Points)
Nearly every robot task requires operating in multiple reference frames. Download and open lidarScan.mat,
containing a sample lidar scan (as returned by LidarSensorCreate.m). The 681 data points correspond to
the measured ranges (in meters) equally spaced over the angles [−120◦
, 120◦
].
1. Edit the file lidar range2xy.m to convert the raw lidar scan into 2D local robot coordinates. Assume
the lidar sensor is located at the front of the robot pointing forward (i.e. the sensor pose in local
coordinates is [xl
, yl
, θl
] = [r, 0, 0], where r is the robot radius). The robot’s x-axis points forward
and y-axis points left. Assume the robot radius is 0.2 meters. Submit this function in the autograded
assignment Homework 1 lidar range2xy on Canvas.
2. Edit the file robot2global.m to transform any 2D point from the local robot coordinates into global
coordinates, given the robot’s pose. Submit this function in the autograded assignment Homework
1 robot2global on Canvas.
3. Edit the file global2robot.m to transform any 2D point from global coordinates into local robot
coordinates, given the robot’s pose. Submit this function in the autograded assignment Homework
1 global2robot on Canvas.
4. In the same figure, plot using lidar range2xy.m the lidar scan (points in 2D) in the global reference
frame assuming the robot pose is
• [3, −4, 2π/3]
• [0, 3, π/2]
Plot each set of points (corresponding to the scan as viewed by the robot) in a different color. Make
sure to label your axis and include a legend.
Getting to Know the Simulator and Running a Simple Control
Program (20 Points)
Download the MATLAB CreateSim toolbox (download as zip)
https://github.com/autonomousmobilerobots/iRobotCreateSimulatorToolbox
download the latest version of the Matlab Toolbox for the Create from
https://github.coecis.cornell.edu/AMR/MatlabiRobotCreateRaspPi
and add both to your MATLAB path. Review the iRobot Create Simulator User Guide pages 4–10, and the
MATLAB Toolbox for the iRobot Create (available on Canvas) pages 11–12.
The file turnInPlace.m is a simple control program that reads the robot’s sensor data and makes the
robot turn in place. You can use this function as a template for later functions you will write.
Make sure the CreateSim toolbox is in your MATLAB path and run SimulatorGUI.m. This will open
the simulator interface. Click the Load Map button and select box map from the files provided for this
homework. Place the simulated robot anywhere on the map by clicking the Set Position button (click once
to set the center location, click again to set the heading direction). Run the control program by clicking
the Start button in the Autonomous group (bottom right side of the interface) and selecting turnInPlace.m.
1. What does the command SetFwdVelAngVelCreate (line 73 in turnInPlace.m) do? What are the
inputs to this function?
2. The left and right wheel velocities are limited to ±0.5m/s (observe what happens when you increase
cmdV and cmdW on lines 66–67 in turnInPlace.m). Edit the program limitCmds.m to appropriately
scale the forward and angular velocity commands so the wheel motors don’t saturate (the shape of
the trajectory should be maintained, i.e. do not simply use a max function without making sure the
trajectory shape remains the same). Submit this function in the autograded assignment Homework
1 limitCmds on Canvas.
3. Edit turnInPlace.m to use limitCmds.m in the appropriate place, with wheel2Center=0.13 and maxV
a value that is less than 0.5. From now on, you should always call limitCmds before sending commands
to the robot via SetFwdVelAngVelCreate.m.
4. Write a function backupBump.m to have the robot drive forward at constant velocity until it bumps into
something. If a bump sensor is triggered, command the robot to back up 0.25m and turn clockwise
30◦
, before continuing to drive forward again. Run the simulator and plot the robot trajectory.
Note: To access the sensor data collected during simulation, type global dataStore in the MATLAB
Command Window. The ground truth pose of the robot is available in dataStore.truthPose. The
sensor data is collected by readStoreSensorData.m; we recommend you take a look at the function
to see what sensor information is stored.
5. Write a control function, properly named, to make the robot do something new. What does the
function do? Run the simulator using your new control function and plot the robot trajectory.
Feedback Linearization (30 Points)
The iRobot Create is a non-holonomic vehicle, so we can’t send arbitrary Vx and Vy commands to the robot.
Instead we must send V and ω commands, as with SetFwdVelAngVelCreate.m. Feedback linearization approximately converts [Vx, Vy] → [V, ω] via a linear transformation.
1. Write a function feedbackLin.m to transform Vx and Vy commands into corresponding V and ω
commands using the feedback linearization technique presented in class for a differential drive robot.
(In other words, do not use a turn-then-move control strategy.). Assume the Vx and Vy commands
are given with respect to the inertial frame. Submit this function in the autograded assignment
Homework 1 feedbackLin on Canvas.
2. In the SimulatorGUI, place the robot near [0, 0] by clicking the Set Position button. For a desired
local (body-fixed) control input [Vx, Vy]B = [1, 1], plot the robot trajectory for different values of .
3. Write a function visitWaypoints.m to calculate the desired [V, ω] controls to drive the robot along a
series of waypoints (using feedbackLin.m appropriately). The waypoints are given as a nx2 matrix
where each row is the (x,y) coordinate of a waypoint. Keep track of which waypoint is being driven
2 MAE 4180/5180
toward using the index gotopt, and consider the waypoint reached if the robot is within closeEnough
of the waypoint location.
4. Using visitWaypoints.m as the control function with = r (the robot radius, 0.2m) and closeEnough=
0.1, plot the robot trajectories for the following sets of waypoints: [-3 0; 0 -3; 3 0; 0 3] and [-1 0; 1 0 ].
3 MAE 4180/5180
