CMSC 477/677 - Spring 2007

Discussion Questions for Class #8, February 22

Reading: Wooldridge Ch. 5.3, Arkin and Balch, "AuRA...".

• Basic concepts: What's a motor schema? What's an assemblage? How are motor schemas integrated within an assemblage? How are weights adjusted?
• Brooks's subsumption architecture uses suppression and inhibition to coordinate layers. Motor schemas use weighted vector addition. Can you think of domains or applications that would be particularly suited for one or the other of these coordination mechanisms?
• What kinds of learning mechanisms can you imagine for a robot based on motor schemas?
• AuRA is very tailored to robot behavior, and specifically robot navigation. Do you think that AuRA's hybrid architecture would be relevant for other types of tasks (e.g., robot activity using effector systems other than movement; high-level reasoning tasks like planning a trip; dynamic situation response tasks like air traffic control; mixed reasoning/effecting tasks like shelving books in a library)?
• AuRA purports to be a hybrid deliberative/reactive architecture. Would you characterize it as primarily reactive, primarily deliberative, or an equal mix?
• Would you call the kind of reasoning that AuRA uses in its "Mission Planner" planning? What issues would there be in integrating more sophisticated planning methods (e.g., partial-order planning, HTN planning) into the AuRA architecture?