Some Lingo, terms and some definitions relating to robotics / AI.

(Useful to baffle other entities with B.S.)

A

Absolutely Behaviorally equivalent - 

Accelerometer - 

Acquiescence - 

Actors - 

Adaptive - 

ADC - 

Affordances - 

Agent -           An entity, subsystem or robot with goals, actions and domain knowledge for life in its environment.

AGV -    Automatic Guided Vehicle

AI  Artificial Intelligence -   The quality of learning from experience and forming new patterns of thought and action based on non-biological means.   Awareness or sentience.

Algorithm - 

Altruism - 

Ants – a specialized subset of Millibots.

Application - 

ARM / Industrial Robotics / Robot Arm - 

ASGH -           Adaptive Symbol Grounding Hypothesis

Assists -        A human or other “helping hand”

Assumption - 

ATRV -           All terrain Robot Vehicle

Authority Figure - 

Autoepistemic Reasoning -  Reasoning about ignorance’s,  reason what is not known.

Auto - self

Automata - 

Autopoiesis – auto (self) creation,  Self organization.

Autonomous -   auto (self) nomos (law) – Self controlled and directed,  self determinated.   Responsible for its own actions.

AUV -    Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Avatar - 

Avoiding - 

Axioms -    (assumptions)

B

Bandwidth - 

Base, or Platform -    lower portion of our robot, housing the drive and batteries.

Bayesian -    Learning

BDI -               Belief Desire  Intention Model

Behavior -     The way a robot acts.

Behavioral - 

Behavioral Assemblage - 

Benevolence - 

BFGS Algorithm - 

Binocular -    using two eyes to see.

Biological - 

Biomechanics -    Expressing biology based systems in terms of electro/mechanical devices.

Bionic -    Biological components or systems replaced or augmented by electronic or electromechanical devices.

Blind Obedience - 

Bound  / Unbound - 

Boundary - 

Buffer - 

C

CACM™– Cellular Automata Cybernetic Mind -

Calibration - 

Canonical - 

Capture - 

Cascading - 

Caste Controller – Subgroups of Search, Goal caste

CCD camera -  Charge Coupled Device

CCR - 

Cellular Automata - 

Chassis - 

CM -    Competence Modules - 

CMOMMT -    Cooperative Multirobot Observation of Multiple Moving Targets

Coalitions - 

Cognitive -  any structure or mental operation relating to the action or process of knowing.  This also applies to mental operations using formal rules and truthful conditional semantics, involving consciousness, symbolic, connectionist and dynamic systems.

Cognitive Dissonance -  the perception of incompatibility (conflict).

Cognitive Heterogeneity - 

Cognizant - 

Collaboration - 

Collection - 

Collective - 

Collisions - 

Colony - 

Commitment Groups - 

Commitment States -   (Potential,  Pre and Actual)

Communicate / Communications -    

Communicationless - 

Competitive Learning Agents - 

Competitiveness - 

Computing -    

Concurrent - 

Conformity - 

Conro -  Configurable Robots

Contractnets Framework - 

Convergent - 

Cooperative behavior - 

Cooperative Learning - 

Coordination - 

CORBA -  Common Object Request Broker Architecture (Distributed Communication apps)

COTS -    Commercial Off the Shelf

Courier - 

Creeping - 

Cross - Correlate - 

Cybernetic / Cybernetics -  Describes the communication, control and related regulatory feedback systems in computer controlled robotics, AI and adaptive systems as well as in complex systems, decision systems and learning systems.  It describes the functional relationships between the multitude of sub-systems of the robot, such as information transfer and feedback to enhance self-organization,  goals and its goal-directedness (purpose) relating to its situation.

Cyborg -   

CYCOGS™  -   A Wisconsin robot company.

D

DAC - 

DAI -   Distributed Artificial Intelligence

DAQ - 

Data Fusion -    Combining Sensor data and correlating their inputs

Database - 

Daughter Centric - 

DC/DC converter - 

Dead Reckoning -   movement based on measuring stride or wheel rotation distances.

Debugging:  Bug - 

Decommit  - Exit an agreement with other agents while incurring a penalty.

Delayed Integration - 

Deliberative agent  -  Behaves like they are thinking,  searches threw a space of behaviors, and maintains an inertial state as well as predicting the effects of its actions.

Dendrogram - 

Dependencies - 

Deploy - 

Desired Heading - 

Desired Lateral Velocity - 

Detectors - 

Differential Drive - 

Differentiation - 

Digital Map /mapping - 

Disclose - 

Dispersed   - Widely separated places for agent based tasks.

Displaced Responsibility - 

Distributed - 

Distributed Coordination - 

Divergent - 

Diversity -  Unlike,  Differing from one another.

DMD - Distributed Multiagent Docking

Docking - 

DOF -  Degree of Freedom – A set of independent displacements that specify the position of the arm, wheel assembly or system.  Translations relate to the X, Y, Z axis, and rotations about these axes.  Note that certain constrains can reduce the true numbers of DOF.  Mechanisms collectively may have a larger cumulative DOF count as the subsystems  / components used to position the end effector may contain more joints.

1.      Heaving (Up and down movement)

2.      Swaying (Left and right movement)

3.      Surging (forward and backward movement)

4.      Pitching (up and down tilting)

5.      Yawing ( left and right rotation)

6.      Rolling (side to side tilting)

Domain - 

DPS -  Distributed Problem Solving

Drive -  System comprising wheels and motors for movement on a surface or floor.

E

Egocentric Docking - 

Embedded - 

EMH – Eye Motion Hints

Empirically - 

Environmental - 

Evaluation - 

Event Driven Model - 

Exiting - 

Expert System – Computer programs that emulate the human experts reasoning process, on which performs an expert manner where no human exists.

Exploration - 

F

Failure - 

False Positive - 

FAM -  Fuzzy Associative Memories

FD -  Feature Detectors

FFT -  Fast Fourier Transform

FIFO -  First In First Out

Finite - 

FLING - 

FLIR -  Thermal Camera

Foraging -  

Foreman - 

Formation – Follow the leader

FOV -  Field of View

FPM -  Focal Point Method

Frame Problem - 

Frames - 

Framework - 

FSA - 

Future - 

Fuzzy Expert System -  Consists of an inference engine, knowledge base and a global or working memory.

Fuzzy Logic -  An inexact rules based decision making system to match data that is not exact but still identifiable.  A good guess at the data, an "inference engine".

G

GA -  Genetic Algorithm

Gaussian Distribution - 

GLA  Generalized Lloyd Algorithm  - A clustering technique consisting of interactions of recomputed sets of partitioned input states (vectors) and their centroids.

Global Perspective - 

GP  Genetic Programming -

GPGP  Generalized Partial Global Planning - 

GPS -  Global Positioning System a satellite base navigation reference system.

Grid - 

Gripper - 

Grounded -    A symbols grounded if the set of icons, indices and symbols necessary to interpret it.

Group Think - 

GUI  Graphic User Interface - 

Gyroscope - 

H

Hang ups -    When the robot gets caught passing an obstacle

Harmonic Drive - 

HDR High Dynamic Range - 

Heading - 

Heterogeneous / Heterogeneity - 

Heuristic -  Reward based on intuition of state value.

Hexapod – 6 leg robot

Hierarchy - 

Hierem - 

Hieroglyphics - 

Higher Ordered - 

Highly Centralized - 

HMI  Human Machine Interface - 

Holonomic Drive -  A wheeled drive system containing sub-assemblies capable of independent motion and positioning.  The total number of DOF must equal the total number of controlled DOF.

Homing - 

HRASP -  Heterogeneous Robot Action Selection Problem

Human - 

Humanoid Robot / Humaniform -  A robot that resembles a human, such as one that can walk on two legs with two arms.

Hypocyclic Drive - 

HYSA™  - HYbrid Snake Arm -

I

I²C Bus -  A 2 wire serial bus

Iconic Representations - 

Ignorant - 

IMU  Inertial Measurement Unit - 

Infer - 

Inference Engine - 

Information - 

Infrared - 

INS  Inertial Navigation System - 

Intent / Intentions - 

Interaction - 

Interference - 

Intruder -  

J

Jack / Jack Lift - 

K

Kalman Filtering - 

Knowledge - 

Knowledge Base - 

Knowledge Representation - 

L

Layered Architecture - 

LAN- Local Area Network - 

Lazy Learning  - Instance Based Learning - 

Learning - 

LED - 

LIDAR  -  Light Detecting and Ranging -    Typically laser based sensors.

LIN - Local Interconnect Network - 

LISP - 

Local Perspective - 

Locality - 

Localization - 

Location Feature Detectors - 

LOS  Line of Sight - 

LOS  Loss of Signal - 

LSR – Large Size Robot - A robot that is too big and / or heavy to operate in a human occupied hallway.

M

Managed Code - 

Mangled Code - 

Manager / Coach - 

Mapping - 

Markov Localization  - A family of probabilistic approach to localization.  “Each robot maintains a belief over its position”

Marsupial - 

Marsupial  robot teams - 

MAS  Multi Agent Systems – Construction of complex systems involving multiple agents and mechanisms for coordinating the independent agent’s behaviors.

MCL Monte Carlo Localization  - A version of Markov Localization that relies on sample based representations, and sampling / resampling algorithms for belief propagation “particle filters”

Mean character difference - 

Message Passing - 

Messenger - 

Metamorphic - 

Metrical FAM - maps input patterns into stored patterns.

Metrics - 

Millibot – A robot of size approximately 6cm³ 

Minimax-Q   -  A variation of Q-Learning with agents learning probabilistic policies.

ML  Machine Learning - 

Mobile Manipulator - 

Mobile Robot - 

Mobile – a robot that can move or change its position or location.  Mobile robots typically have wheels, legs or tracks and navigate between points.  Industrial, or  “robot arms” are not considered mobile as they are stationary or have limited travel, with the end effectors movement being carefully controlled.   

Model / Modeling - 

Mother Centric - 

MOUT - Military Operations in Urban Terrain

Move Movement - 

MSR™ - Medium Size Robot – A mobile robot that is too heavy to lift by a human, but small enough to travel inside a hallway.

Multiagent - 

Multiforaging - 

Multirobot - 

N

Nanobots -  Very tiny robots.

Navigation -    

Negotiation - 

Neural Network -  An approach used in AI to reproduce biological thinking by patterning sequences and systems of logic to organize information into subsets for decision making.

O

Object detection - 

Object Recognition - 

Observer - 

Occlusion - 

Odometry - 

Orchestrator - 

P

Pack Controller - 

Parallel Processing -    Unlike serial processing where one microprocessor (CPU) processes the data and commands, two or more processors are used concurrently to process the data and commands.

Passenger - 

Path Planning -    Programically planning a path from one location to the next. (nodes)

Perceive - 

Perceptual Cues - 

Performance - 

Pessimistic Algorithm  - uses the lower bounds of the potential actions.

Physics Engine - 

Physics Modeling - 

PID -  Proportional, Integral,  Derivative -   control algorithm

Ping – Sonar Sensor pulse measurement

Pitch - 

Polar Coordinates - 

Polymorphic - 

Positronic Brain -  Isaac Asimov 1950's novel,  "I, Robot",  the sophisticated non-biological "mind" that allowed the robots to think creatively, and in depth, just like a human.  

POSLOG  -  POSsibilistic  LOGic - 

Predictive - 

Probabilistic - 

Programming - 

Proxy - 

Punish - 

Pursuit Domain  (Predator / Prey) - 

Q

Q-Learning  - Active interaction of robots to learn from each other threw observation.

Quantitative - 

R

R&D Research and Development - 

Radar -   

Reactive Agent  -  Retrieve pre-set behaviors, similar to reflexes without maintaining an internal state.

Reconfigurable - 

Reconnaissance - 

Redundant -  DOF definition: The robot contains more controllable DOF than the total number of DOF in its task space. This allows alternate paths of motion.

Rendering - 

Rescue - 

Resource Management - 

Reverse Homing - 

RFID tags  -   Radio Frequency Identification Tags - 

RL – Reinforced Learning - 

RMM -    Recursive Modeling Method - 

Roboethics - 

Robot Impatience / Acquiescence - 

Robot -   1920's Karel Capek play R.U.R. coined the word from the Czech word "robota" which means "drudgery" or "hard labor".  It brings to mind mechanical "men", mechanical monsters and other non-human constructs from the early movie days.  The generic term now covers most automated systems, ranging from arms, remote control devices, tape drive libraries, to unmanned vehicles in the air, sea, land and outer space.  Even the web has digital robots that scour websites looking for information.  Hollywood seems to portray robots as both good and evil, as in R2D2 in Star Wars and the Terminator movies.  We like the interpretation where robots are complex non-biological entities in the physical realm that can sense and influence its environment and respond without outside help or control.

Robustness - 

Roll - 

Rollovers – robot tips over

Roving Eye - 

RPM - 

RSFD – Radio Silence Failure Detection - 

RTOS  Real Time Operating System - 

Rule - 

Rule based Systems -  State driven systems operate on discrete blocks of instructions.

S

SCT – Spherical Coordinate Transform - 

Self Repair - 

Self Sufficient - 

Semantic Networks - 

Sensor / sensing - 

Sensor Fusion - 

Service Robot -   

Servoing / Servo Control - 

Simulation - 

Single Agent – a task that derives no benefit from using additional agents in its solution.

SLAM  - Simulation Localization And Mapping - 

SSR – Small size Robot – A robot that can be easily picked up by a human.

Snake Arm - 

Social Conventions - 

Social Entropy - 

SOM  - Self Organizing Map algorithm - 

Sonar Sensor -  An acoustic (sound) based distance measurement sensor.

Sophisticated - 

Spatial Structure - 

Spatio-Temporal - 

Spawn - 

Specular - 

Speech Acts – Theory of communication as an action

Stability - 

State - 

Stigmergy – Active – an agent alters the environment so as to affect the sensory input of another agent.       -  Passive  - An agent alters the environment so that the effects of another agents actions change.

Structure - 

Subsonic -   

Subsumption - 

Subsystem - 

Supercomputer -   

Surveillance - 

Symbiosis - 

Synchro-Drive – A mobile robot with a mechanically linked drive where all the wheels rotate together, and steer together.  This drive is a 2 DOF system.

Synchronization - 

T

Taxonomic - 

Taxonomy - 

TDL  - Task Descriptor Language - 

Telematic Systems - 

Teleoperated - 

Teleremote - 

Test Bed - 

Theory / Theoretical - 

TMR – Tactical Mobile Robots - 

Topological Path Planning - 

Topology - 

TPOT-RL  Team – Partitioned, Opaque – Transition Reinforced Learning - 

U

UAV -   

UGV – Unmanned Ground Vehicle - 

UI  - User Interface - 

Ultrasonic - 

Ultraviolet - 

USAR – Urban Search And Rescue - 

V

Vector - 

Video -   

Vision - 

VQQL – Vector Quantization with Q-Learning - 

W

Wall Following - 

WAM™  -  Wheel Assembly Module - 

Wander - 

Wandering - 

X

Xenophobe - 

Y

Yaw - 

Z

Zero – Sum - 

This is a work in progress.  If you have better / more accurate definitions or more terms, please email us.

News Flash

1.  Single Wheel Assembly
     now available!

1.  Hybrid Snake Arm
     (Snarm™) patent filed

2.  Sensor Ring
     (Sring™) patent filed

3.  R&D on the Wheel
     Assembly Module
     (WAM™), and is
     patent pending

4.  WAM-BOM pre-release
     due out shortly

5.  R&D on the base and
     chassis is proceeding
     nicely.

Robot Tip Details

1.  Robot Insurance.

2.  System Data Backup.

3.  Flooring / Surfaces.

4.  Batteries.

5.  Cooling and Dust.

6.  Moisture and Humidity.

7.  Transportation
     and Shipping.