Handbook

Recent technological advances are bringing robots out of their usual industrial settings and into homes and offices. Mobile robots capable of vacuum cleaning and lawn mowing are already commercially available. As miniaturisation and sophistication increase and costs continue to decrease, it is anticipated that robots will become commonplace. Applications include domestic robots to assist in everyday chores, robots for entertainment or educational purposes as well as robots for automating office and factory tasks. Applications also include assistance for the elderly, in particular, to improve their mobility and level of care.

As autonomous devices become more common, potential employers include companies that can make ready use of automation. This includes companies concerned with home and office automation, entertainment companies and autonomous systems research and development. Autonomous systems and the sophisticated sensors they employ are also adopted in many industries to enhance production and to improve safety (e.g. mining, manufacturing, transport).

The Artificial Intelligence stream in the Graduate Diploma and Master of Information Technology programs focuses on the development of sophisticated software for mobile robot control. Several aspects of software are considered:

• artificial intelligence;
• agent programming;
• experimental robotics;
• knowledge representation and reasoning;
• machine learning;
• robot architectures;
• human-computer interaction;
• vision.