The AAAI 2006 Mobile Robot Competition and Exhibition

The Fifteenth Annual AAAI Mobile Robot Competition and Exhibition was held in conjunction with the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-06) July 17–20, 2006, in Boston, Massachusetts. The robot competition and exhibition has a long tradition of demonstrating innovative research in robotics (Rybski et al. 2006, Smart et al. 2005, Balch and Yanco 2005). From new approaches to canonical robotics problems to groundbreaking research in emerging areas, the robot program provides a forum for a diverse range of projects in mobile robotics. Recent years have witnessed a rise in the accessibility of mobile robot platforms with reasonably capable platforms being available for relatively low cost (Dodds and Tribblehorn 2006, Dodds et al. 2004) and not requiring a substantial effort to build hardware (Veloso et al. 2006) or software (Blank et al. 2003, Touretzky and TiraThompson 2005) architectures. Some participants at this year’s robot competitions and exhibition demonstrated a range of projects using commodity robots, while others showcased unique construction. As robots become more accessible, the robot program is able to showcase work from a wide range of contributors. Building upon the success of the 2005 robot program, which represented a change from a large open convention hall to a more cluttered and noisy hotel environment, the 2006 robot events once again emphasized operation in natural unmodified environments in a hotel setting. Additionally, the Open Interaction event from the previous year further evolved into a Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) event. Briefly, each event is described as follows: Scavenger Hunt: Autonomous robots were required to search a cluttered and crowded environment for a defined list of objects and were judged on task performance. Human-Robot Interaction: Teams submitted robots that demonstrate engaging interactions between people and robots. The robots perform tasks that were assessed for any of seven interaction categories. All categories were aimed at human-robot interaction and involved activities that intrinsically integrate perception and action. Robot Exhibition: Teams demonstrate any relevant robotic/AI technology. Teams were judged not for first, second, or third prize awards but rather for recognition certificates that acknowledged innovative technologies. The Mobile Robot Competition and Exhibition was cochaired by Paul E. Rybski from Carnegie Mellon University and Jeffrey Forbes from Duke University. Zach Dodds from Harvey Mudd College (HMC) and Paul Oh from Drexel University served as organizers for the Scavenger Hunt. Matthias Scheutz from University of Notre Dame established and managed the Human-Robot Interaction event. Debra Burhans from Canisius College coordinated the Robot Exhibition. Bob Avanzato from Penn State Abington chaired the mobile robot workshop. Articles