MOR AV I A N CO L L E G E

IT WAS A roboT he had designed to tell a computer
program where it had been. As it ambled around a flat terrain,
steering clear of obstacles, its sensors relayed its path electronically
to the computer, which then displayed its route as a line-map
on a screen.
The little wanderer’s frame is built of lego blocks—yellow,
blue, red, and green—prized artifacts of Wesley’s childhood. To
provide mobility, two miniature tractor tires anchor the rear, and
steering wheels are mounted on the front. Its innards are packed
with sensing and computing equipment. A short, revolving
antenna in the forward section uses a sonar type mechanism to
survey the terrain ahead of the moving object. It sends what it
finds to the electronic processor behind it, which keeps track of
everything the sonar senses and all motion that has occurred.
The information eventually appears on the computer screen.
The research started when ben Coleman,
assistant professor of computer science,
asked if he’d like to do a project in the field.
from the shelves of the department he
found the abandoned remains of a robot-like
object that had been used for an experiment
a decade ago. That touched off his lego
affinity and his curiosity about robots. from
that germ of an idea, the concept gradually
took shape.
It has the look of a small delivery truck with a forward “cab”
and a rear cargo container crammed with technological gadgetry.
To Wesley, it is an achievement even he sometimes finds hard to
believe, and a source of sheer delight. “Anything I’d built before
I’ve had to push,” he noted.
07.
The research started when ben Coleman, assistant professor
of computer science, asked if he’d like to do a project in the
field. from the shelves of the department he found the abandoned
remains of a robot-like object that had been used for an
experiment a decade ago. That touched off his lego affinity
and his curiosity about robots. from that germ of an idea,
the concept gradually took shape.
The first goal was to keep the robot from bumping into
things. This involved installing sensors that would measure the
distance to objects. As the robot approached an object, it would
recognize a reduction in the distance, and turn to avoid the
object. no more crashes.
finding a means that allowed the device to map its direction
proved even tougher, Wesley said. “The robot can’t see where
it is,” he said, “so that presented all kinds of challenges. It involved
lots of math. All the robot does know is how fast it can go.”
Where and how far had to be determined by ingenuity. Persistence
and know-how would pay off when he was able to make the
biggest leap, translating the data gathered from charting the robot’s
location and devising a program that would show its track on
a computer screen.
“The roughest part was the robot telling the computer what
it did,” he said. Math again came to the rescue as he turned data
from “the real world to the images of a computer world.” In
its finished form, the robot scoots over a surface within an
enclosed area and its meanderings appear as crooked lines on
a computer monitor.
Wesley is majoring in both mathematics and computer
science. he counts as great good fortune his opportunity to
learn hands-on skills from his father, an electrician with whom
he has worked in partnership. he would like to learn more
about robots, but he’s not yet ready to embark on the frontier
of artificial intelligence. It’s a bit “scary,” he said, “but then
again I don’t understand how it works.”