I was at the conference every day from about 9:00-9:30am to 5:00-5:30pm. I was part of the robot team so I stayed with the team in the work area most of the time. Unfortunately i could not work on my code because there was a problem with the server and I could not connect it to compile. The first day was mostly trying to fix the problem and setting up our work area. For the next several days I worked on my website and learning some more website design techniques. I also met some people from other universities who were either just exhibiting their robots or were participating in the various competitions. On tuesday night each team gave a brief description and demonstration of what their robot can do. I met with some students from Carnegie Mellon University and a guy from UCLA. On wednesday there was the scavenger hunt competition and on thursday there was a workshop all day.

I am at the process of learning how to build a Kalman filter to partly adjust for the noise in the laser readings. I have just returned from the 2006 AAAI conference in Boston, MA where our team exhibited the Robot Photographer Lewis. The robot's task was to move about the room while avoiding collisions with the people and the different obstacles in the room and taking pictures using a face recognition application developed by some of the other students on the team. Unfortunately, due to a server problem that did not allow me to connect to the robot, my code could not be tested. One of the things i worry about if my code is tested is the difference in the laser readings. While the Player Stage simulator utilizes 360 readings in a hemisphere the actual laser which Lewis uses has only 180 degrees. That should affect the navigation since the function adds all of the readings. During the one week i have remaining I hope to be able to debug my code with the help of Bill Smart or with one of the graduate students. If not I will research more about mobile robot navigation algorithms and see if i can implement another one along with the Potential Fields that will not allow the robot to crash into obstacles when the obstacle is in its 180 degrees sight. I also hope to learn how to make a Kalman filter and begin coding that.