Question 1:
Part a. On page 32, Dr. Murphy quotes six features of an application where teleoperation is advantageous. For each of these six, give an example of a realistic domain in which that feature is found and the application is a real-world one (i.e. no science fiction or fantasy). For example, if the book had said "the environment is dangerous to humans," an appropriate answer would be "recovery of an aircraft which has crashed at sea."
Part b. Give an example of a real-world domain in which an autonomous robot would be preferred to a telerobotic system. Explain why.
Question 2:
In chapter two, the book discusses the hierarchical paradigm and what a world model typically contains for such a system (bottom of page 43). Choose two domains other than package delivery, and for each give examples of what the world model would need to contain.
Question 3:
For several lectures in a row I discussed "kamikaze squirrels" without ever showing the code -- this is because I decided to let you do it in this exam. The following is a behavior you probably have observed -- a squirrel is in the road when you a car comes into its view. It stays still, frozen in place, until the car is quite close. At that point it suddenly "comes alive" and dashes off in some direction. If it is lucky enough to avoid being hit, it runs until it sees a tree, and then climbs it. Write a C agent program, using the techniques of Chapter 3, that would model the behavior of the squirrel.
Question 4:
Consider a simple world in which there is a robot at a starting location, two obstacles (of arbitrary shape), and a goal location. Draw two domain descriptions using these elements - one in which you would expect a reactive robot (like your khepera) to do better, one in which you would expect a robot navigating using potential-field based methods to do better. Explain your answers. You should be sure to define what potential fields are being created by the obstacles and goals in your world, and you should explain what the khepera does (i.e. outline the algorithm it would be using).