Activities

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Activities: What Robots Can Do

Activities are real-world tasks that people expect robots to accomplish. They represent the "why" of robotics - the practical outcomes that justify building a robot.

For an introduction to how Activities fit into the BRS knowledge structure, see Robotics Ontology.

What Makes an Activity?

An Activity has these characteristics:

  • User-focused: It's something a person wants a robot to do
  • Robot-agnostic: Any robot with the required capabilities can perform it
  • Measurable: You can tell if the robot succeeded or failed
  • Practical: It has real-world applications beyond demonstration

Activities are different from Behaviors (which are algorithms) and Implementations (which are robot-specific code). An Activity defines "what" you want to accomplish, not "how" to accomplish it.

Current Activities

These activities have full documentation with tested implementations on SimpleBot:

Activity Difficulty Required Capabilities Robots Status
Activity:Line Following Beginner Line Sensing, Differential Drive SimpleBot Fully Documented
Activity:Dead Reckoning Navigation Beginner Optical Odometry, Differential Drive SimpleBot Fully Documented

Future Activities (Stubs)

These activities are not yet implemented in any BRS robot. They represent opportunities for community contribution! Add the required sensors to your robot, write the code, and document it.

Activity Difficulty Required Capabilities Status
Activity:Maze Solving (bump-based) Beginner Bump Sensing, Movement Stub - Waiting for implementation
Activity:Maze Solving (distance-based) Intermediate Distance Sensing (ToF/ultrasonic), Movement, Odometry Stub - Waiting for implementation
Activity:Room Mapping Intermediate LIDAR or ToF, Odometry, Movement Stub - Waiting for implementation
Activity:Sign Reading Intermediate Camera, Image Processing Stub - Waiting for implementation
Activity:Maze Optimization Advanced Multiple sensors, Mapping, Pathfinding Stub - Advanced fusion activity
Activity:Object Manipulation Advanced Gripper, Positioning, Object Detection Stub - Future robot capability

Activities by Difficulty

Beginner Activities

Intermediate Activities

Advanced Activities

Activities by Application

Navigation

Perception

Manipulation

How to Use Activity Pages

Each Activity page provides:

  1. Description - What the activity is and why it matters
  2. Real-world applications - Where this is used in industry/research
  3. Required capabilities - What hardware your robot needs
  4. Possible behaviors - Algorithm options for accomplishing the task
  5. Robots that can do this - Which BRS robots support this activity
  6. Implementation links - Step-by-step guides for specific robots

Contributing New Activities

Want to add a new activity? Consider:

  1. Is it user-focused? - Does it solve a real problem?
  2. Is it robot-agnostic? - Can multiple robots potentially do it?
  3. What capabilities does it require? - Be specific about sensors/actuators
  4. What behaviors enable it? - What algorithms make it work?

Then:

  1. Create an Activity page using Template:Activity
  2. Document the required capabilities
  3. Implement it on your robot
  4. Create an Implementation page with full instructions
  5. Share your work on Discord or the Mailing List

See Also

  • Robotics Ontology - How Activities fit into the BRS knowledge structure
  • Capabilities - Hardware abilities that enable activities
  • Behaviors - Algorithms that implement activities
  • SimpleBot - BRS's first robot, demonstrating two activities
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