ISR Seminar Series
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Newell-Simon Hall 1305
12-1 p.m.

Christopher Baker, PhD. Candidate in the Robotics Institute

Software Architecture for the Urban Challenge

ABSTRACT: This talk presents a case study in the design, integration
and deployment of the software system behind Boss, Tartan Racing's
winning entry in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.  The overall system
architecture will be described in brief, leading into a more detailed
analysis of the Behavioral Executive module, which was responsible for
managing incremental mission execution while adhering to road rules
governing discrete traffic interactions such as waiting for precedence
at an intersection.  The discussion will focus on the beneficial use
of architectural design principles and development process as much as
on the developed product and will emphasize practical lessons learned
in the 18 months between the competition announcement and the day of
the race.

SPEAKER BIO: Christopher Baker earned a B.S. degree in computer
science from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002 and an M.S. degree in
Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004.  He is currently a
PhD candidate in the Robotics Institute, advised by Dr. John Dolan and
researching the challenges of the design and integration of complex
robotic systems.  He has participated in the development of robotic
systems for autonomous subterranean exploration and mapping, and was
most recently a subsystem developer on Carnegie Mellon's Tartan Racing
team, winners of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.