<title>Virtual robotics laboratory for research</title>

Abstract

We report on work currently underway to put a robotics laboratory onto the Internet in support of teaching and research in robotics and artificial intelligence in higher education institutions in the UK. The project is called Netrolab. The robotics laboratory comprises a set of robotics resources including a manipulator, a mobile robot with an on-board monocular active vision head and a set of sonar sensing modules, and a set of laboratory cameras to allow the user to see into the laboratory. The paper will report on key aspect of the project aimed at using multimedia tools and object-oriented techniques to network the robotics resources and to allow them to be configured into complex teaching and experimental modules. The paper will outline both the current developments of Netrolab and provide a perspective on the future development of networked virtual laboratories for research.