Simulation of a Subsumption Architecture Robot: Genghis     May 1994
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This  is a  graphics simulation that was developed as part of my PhD
studies.  It models the structure and control system of a well known
six legged  robot.   A detailed  technical  report  has been written
describing the implementation of this simulation and can be found in
the following location using anonymous ftp:

	Host:	  daneel.rdt.monash.edu.au
	Location: /pub/techreports/RDT/94-3.ps.Z

This software is freely distributable.

The  technical report describes the application of computer graphics
to model the robot and the control system it uses.  The mobile robot
is  a  walking  hexapod type that was named Genghis by its creators.
The   control   system   used   for  the   robot  is  based  on  the
subsumption  architecture which was developed by Rodney A. Brooks of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge in the mid 1980's.

The  graphics package used for this simulation is called VOGLE which
stands  for Very Ordinary Graphics Learning Environment.  VOGLE is a
public  domain graphics package which contains a library of routines
that  are  loosely  based  on  the  Silicon  Graphics Iris  Graphics
Language routines.

The  software  uses a  Hershey Font obtained from the VOGLE package.
The Hershey Fonts were originally created by Dr. A. V. Hershey while
working  at  the U. S. National  Bureau of Standards.  The format of
the Font data in this distribution was originally created by
James Hurt
Cognition, Inc.
900 Technology Park Drive
Billerica, MA 01821
(mit-eddie!ci-dandelion!hurt)

The  simulation  has  been  compiled  to run under various platforms
including SUN, SGI (Silicon Graphics), DEC, Linux and DOS.  For each
platform  only  two  files  are  required;  the  executable  and the
corresponding  Hershey Font  file.   There are two font files given,
both  of  which contain the `futura.l' Hershey Font.  Two font files
were necessary  to  allow  for  both big and little endian machines.
DEC, Linux and DOS store binary files  the same way (storing the low
byte first followed by the high byte) whereas SUN and SGI store  the
high and low byte the other way around.

Therefore,  the  executables and the  required  font  file  for each
corresponding platform is given as follows:

  Platform   |   Executable   |   Font File
 -------------------------------------------
    DEC		 genghis.dec	  futura.l1
    Linux	 genghis.lin	  futura.l1
    DOS		 genghis.exe	  futura.l1
    SUN		 genghis.sun	  futura.l2
    SGI		 genghis.sgi	  futura.l2

Set  execute permission for  the executables if necessary.  When the
program  is  started  a  menu of commands  is  shown.   The list  of
commands are shown below:

`m' - Show the menu at any time
`e' - Enter the simulation (while in the menu)
`1' - Perform a tripod gait (or walking pattern)
`2' - Perform a ripple gait
`3' - Perform a wave gait
`4' - Perform a slow wave gait
`p' - Pause
`s' - Stop the robot walking
`r' - Reset both the robot and the scene view
`q' - Quit the program at any time

A 3-button  mouse is  used to change the position of the scene.  The
scene can be rotated, scaled or translated by using a combination of
pressing  a  mouse  button  and moving  the mouse.  Holding the left
button down and moving the mouse left or right will rotate the scene
about  the  vertical  axis,  while  moving the mouse up or down will
rotate  the  scene  about  the  horizontal axis.  Holding the middle
button down  and moving the mouse up or down will scale the scene up
or  down respectively.  Holding the right button down will translate
the  scene left,  right, up or down depending on which direction the
mouse is moved.

Have fun...

Noel Rode.

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- Noel J. Rode (Ph.D Candidate)          e-mail: noel@rdt.monash.edu.au -
- Dept. Robotics and Digital Technology  Phone : +61 3 905 3575         -
- Monash University, Clayton Campus,     Fax   : +61 3 905 3574         -
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3168.         ...Hi There.            -
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