Real-time search-and-rescue robots are increasingly used to supplement the efforts of the first responders in areas affected by natural disasters. They are used to spot-check the situational awareness of people in distress, survey the extent of flood or tornado damage, evaluate the number of people that had not been evacuated from their neighborhoods, clean debris, and create passable routes.
For this task, you will use the Coppelia Robotics virtual robot and its environment to demonstrate how such robots may be used in disaster recovery. Your first step is to familiarize yourself with this technology by reviewing the information in the “Coppelia Robotics Resources Page” and “CoppeliaSim User Manual” provided in the Web Links section.
For the next step, you will thoroughly describe a disaster situation similar to the ones mentioned above. Next, you will create a virtual prototype of an autonomous robotic recovery system that demonstrates goal-seeking behaviors in navigating through a predefined area. The robotic recovery system will solve a disaster recovery problem of your choice by using the Coppelia Robotics BubbleRob and its environment as the starting point of your prototyping. You will also add sensors to the robot. These sensors will collect vital information to aid in the disaster recovery effort for the scenario you described.
A. Describe the disaster recovery environment you chose and the two obstacles you have added to the environment.
B. Explain how the robot will improve disaster recovery in the environment from part A after you have added the two obstacles from part A.
C. Justify the modifications you made to CoppeliaSim’s robot architecture, including two sensors you chose to add, and explain how these sensors will aid the disaster recovery effort.
D. Describe how the robot maintains an internal representation of the environment.
E. Explain how the robot implements the following four concepts to achieve its goal:
• reasoning
• knowledge representation
• uncertainty
• intelligence
F. Explain how the prototype could be further improved, including how reinforced learning and advanced search algorithms can improve the prototype’s performance and learning.
G. Submit the robot code that you created.
H. Provide a Panopto video recording that describes the robot and demonstrates its functionalities to stakeholders who are nonpractitioners and include each of the following:
• a statement of the disaster recovery problem
• a summary of the environment and the obstacles
• a summary of the robot’s goal and objectives
• a description of the robot and its architecture
• a demonstration of how the robot meets its disaster recovery goals
• an assessment of the robot’s capabilities
• an explanation of how to improve the prototype
Note: For instructions on how to access and use Panopto, use the "Panopto How-To Videos" web link provided below. To access Panopto's website, navigate to the web link titled "Panopto Access," and then choose to log in using the “WGU” option. If prompted, log in using your WGU student portal credentials, and then it will forward you to Panopto’s website.
To submit your recording, upload it to the Panopto drop box titled “INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – NIP2 Task 2 | C951.” Once the recording has been uploaded and processed in Panopto's system, retrieve the URL of the recording from Panopto and copy and paste it into the Links option. Upload the remaining task requirements using the Attachments option.
I. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
J. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.