Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots

Mobile robotics is a young field. Its roots include many engineering and science disciplines,from mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering to computer, cognitive and social sciences. Each of these parent fields has its share of introductory textbooks that excite and inform prospective students, preparing them for future advanced coursework and research.

This book presents an introduction to the fundamentals of mobile robotics, spanning the mechanical, motor, sensory, perceptual and cognitive layers that comprise our field of study. A collection of workshop proceedings and journal publications could present the new student with a snapshot of the state of the art in all aspects of mobile robotics. But here the authors aim to present a foundation — a formal introduction to the field. The formalism and analysis herein will prove useful even as the frontier of the state of the art advances due to the rapid progress in all of mobile robotics' sub-disciplines.