Summary

In this chapter, we introduced the subject of artificial intelligence, and discussed that this is an artificial intelligence book applied to robotics, so our emphasis will be on AI. The main difference between an AI robot and a "regular" robot is that an AI robot may behave non-deterministically, which is to say it may have a different response to the same stimulus, due to learning. We introduced the problem we will use throughout the book, which is picking up toys in a playroom and putting them into a toy box. Next, we discussed two critical tools for AI robotics: the OODA loop (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act), which provides a model for how our robot makes decisions, and the soft real-time control loop, which manages and controls the speed of execution of our program. We applied these techniques in a timing loop demonstration and began to develop our main robot control program. The Appendix provides detailed instructions on setting up the various environments and software we will use to develop our AI-based robot, which I call TinMan.