Sistemas Autónomos/Autonomous Systems

1º Semestre 2016/17

MEEC, MEAero, MEIC

1º Teste
15 de Novembro de 2016

1. Maps are important for autonomous robots because:

 a) They allow the robot software to store information about the robot status.
 b) They help the robot self-localizing, though being useless for anything else.

 c) They can be used for robot localization, as well as to determine the

location of relevant objects for task planning and execution.
 d) They are obtained using inverse sensor models.

2. Given a set P of n distinct points on a plane, the Delaunay triangulation of P is defined

as:
 a) The triangulation DT(P) such that no point in P is inside the circumcircle
of any triangle in DT(P).
 b) The partition of the plane into 2 triangles, one for the n/2 points in P
clustered around a seed point for that region, another for the remaining n/2
points.
 c) The partition of the plane into n regions, one for each point in P, where the
points in a region are closer (using some distance metric) to one of the
points – the seed point for that region - than to any other seed point.
 d) The partition of the plane into n triangles, one for each point in P, where
the points in a triangle are closer (using some distance metric) to one of the
points – the seed point for that region - than to any other seed point.

3. An inertial measurement unit (IMU), frequently used for navigation of autonomous

underwater vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles, includes sensors such as
accelerometers and rate-gyroscopes, thus providing information on:
 a) Relative localization, based on dead-reckoning.

b) Relative localization, based on odometry.

c) Absolute localization, based on dead-reckoning.

d) Absolute localization, based on odometry.

Each question have an associated grade of 1,0 point for correct answers, -0,1 points for incorrect answers and
0 points for no answer.
Mark an “X” on the  corresponding to the correct answer. In case you change your mind about the correct
answer later, cross the former “X”, sign on the side, and mark another “X” corresponding to your new
decision.
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4. Using odometry to estimate the pose of a mobile robot moving on a flat surface:
 a) Accumulates errors over time, due to slippage, uneven terrain, uncalibrated
wheel dimensions, among other factors.
 b) Is a simple error-free method which computes the robot body frame pose
from the wheel speeds, using differential kinematics.
 c) Is a relative inertial navigation method.
 d) Is a flaw, since odometry should not be used for robot localization.

5. An occupancy grid map is a map representation structure where:

 a) Space is divided in occupied and empty cells.
 b) Space is partitioned in free space and occupied space.
 c) Space is partitioned in cells of equal dimension, and each cell has an
associated possibility of being occupied or free.
 d) Space is partitioned in cells of equal dimension, and each cell has an
associated value representing the probability of being occupied.
6. How are absolute and relative localization methods (the way they were defined in this
course) typically combined in Bayes’ filters?
 a) Relative localization is used in the update step, absolute localization is used
in the prediction step.
 b) Relative localization is used in the matching step, absolute localization is
used in the update step.
 c) Relative localization is used in the prediction step, absolute localization is
used in the update step.
 d) Relative localization is used in the prediction and update steps.

7. A trilateration-based absolute localization system is designed to:

 a) Determine the posture (position + orientation) of a vehicle by solving a set
of non-linear equations representing the Euclidean distances from the
(unknown) vehicle pose to the (known) beacon positions.
 b) Determine the position of a vehicle by solving a set of non-linear equations
representing the Euclidean distances from the (unknown) vehicle position to
the (known) beacon positions.
 c) Determine the position of a vehicle by solving a set of linear equations
representing the Euclidean distances from the (unknown) vehicle position to
the (known) beacon positions.
 d) Determine the posture (position + orientation) of a vehicle by solving a set
of linear equations representing the Euclidean distances from the (unknown)
vehicle pose to the (known) beacon positions.

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8. When determining the position of a vehicle moving in a 3-dimensional space by using
trilateration:
 a) The minimal requirement is to know the position coordinates of 4 beacons
but ambiguity may arise if they are collinear.
 b) The minimal requirement is to know the position coordinates of 3 beacons
but ambiguity may arise if they are collinear.
 c) The minimal requirement is to know the position coordinates of 3 beacons
but ambiguity may arise if they are coplanar.
 d) The minimal requirement is to know the position coordinates of 4 beacons
but ambiguity may arise if they are coplanar.
9. Two random variables X (x ∈ X) and Y (y ∈ Y) are conditionally independent with
respect to Z if:
 a) 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑧)𝑃(𝑦, 𝑧)
 b) 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦|𝑧) = 𝑃(𝑥|𝑧)𝑃(𝑦|𝑧), where Z (z ∈ Z) is a random variable
 c) 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦|𝑧) = 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦), where Z (z ∈ Z) is a random variable
 d) 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑧)
10. The interpretation of Bayes’ law 𝑃(𝑥|𝑧) = 𝑃(𝑧|𝑥)𝑃(𝑥)/𝑃(𝑧), where x represents the
autonomous system state and z represents an observation made by the autonomous
system, is:
 a) The likelihood of state x is obtained from the measurement model 𝑃(𝑧|𝑥),
multiplied by a prior on the state belief, and normalized by P(z).
 b) The likelihood of state x is obtained from the action model 𝑃(𝑧|𝑥),
multiplied by a prior on the state belief, and normalized by P(z).
 c) The belief about state x is obtained from the action model 𝑃(𝑧|𝑥), which
expresses the likelihood of a measurement z when the state is x, multiplied
by a prior on the state belief, and normalized by P(z).
 d) The belief about state x is obtained from the measurement model 𝑃(𝑧|𝑥),
which expresses the likelihood of a measurement z when the state is x,
multiplied by a prior on the state belief, and normalized by P(z).
11. In a Kalman filter, the Kalman gain:
a) Is time-variant and it is used to weight the impact of the innovation process
 𝑧 − 𝑧̂ , where z is a measurement vector, in the update of the state estimate,
with equal weight for all dimensions of the state space.
b) Is time-variant and it is used to weight the impact of the innovation process
 𝑧 − 𝑧̂ , where z is a measurement vector, in the update of the state estimate,
with different weights for different dimensions of the state space.
c) Is time-invariant and it is used to weight the impact of the innovation
 process 𝑧 − 𝑧̂ , where z is a measurement vector, in the update of the state
estimate, with different weights for different dimensions of the state space.
d) Is time-invariant and it is used to weight the impact of the innovation
 process 𝑧 − 𝑧̂ , where z is a measurement vector, in the update of the state
estimate, with equal weight for different dimensions of the state space.

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12. When estimating the state of a nonlinear system xt = f (xt-1 + ut )+ et / zt = h(xt ) + dt
with process e t and measurement dt noises, normally distributed and independent:

 a) A Kalman filter ensures convergence of the state estimate to the true state
value, and provides the minimum variance estimate of the state xt.
 b) An Extended Kalman filter ensures convergence of the state estimate to
the true state value, and provides the minimum variance estimate of the state xt.
 c) An Extended Kalman filter does neither ensure convergence of the state
estimate to the true state value, nor provides the minimum variance estimate of
the state xt.
 d) An Extended Kalman filter does not ensure convergence of the state
estimate to the true state value, but provides the minimum variance estimate of
the state xt.
13. When compared to the solution (for the recursive Bayes’ filter) of discretizing the state
space by a grid of N cells to estimate the robot position in one of those cells (usually
known as Markov Localization), Monte Carlo Localization:
 a) Provides, for the same order of magnitude of asymptotic computational
complexity, a more accurate estimate of the robot position in continuous
state space, by using a population of N particles for the same area and
focusing the sampling of the state belief in regions where the belief is more
informative.
 b) Provides, for the same order of magnitude of accuracy, an asymptotically
less computationally complex method to estimate the robot position in
continuous state space, by using a population of N particles for the same
area and focusing the sampling of the state belief in regions where the belief
is more informative.
 c) Provides, for the same order of magnitude of accuracy, a method of similar
asymptotic computational complexity to estimate the robot position in
continuous state space, by using a population of N particles for the same
area and focusing the sampling of the state belief in regions where the belief
is more informative.
 d) Provides, at the cost of reduced accuracy, a method of similar asymptotic
computational complexity to estimate the robot position in continuous state
space, by using a population of N particles for the same area and focusing
the sampling of the state belief in regions where the belief is more
informative.
14. Which of the following expressions states the Markov assumption for an autonomous
system with state xt and actions ut (where the subscript k:t denotes a time history from
discrete time k up to discrete time t):
 a) 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2|𝑥𝑘:𝑡−3 , 𝑢𝑘:𝑡−2 ) = 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2 |𝑥𝑡−1 , 𝑢𝑡−1 ).

 b) 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2|𝑥𝑘:𝑡−3 , 𝑢𝑘:𝑡−2 ) = 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2 |𝑥𝑡−3 , 𝑢𝑡−2 ).

 c) 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2|𝑥𝑘:𝑡−3 , 𝑢𝑘:𝑡−2 ) = 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2 |𝑥𝑘:𝑡−1 , 𝑢𝑘:𝑡−1 ).

 d) 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2|𝑥𝑘:𝑡−3 , 𝑢𝑘:𝑡−2 ) = 𝑝(𝑥𝑡−2 |𝑥𝑘:𝑡−3 , 𝑢𝑘:𝑡−2 ).

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15. In Monte Carlo Localization, a good estimate of the robot state (e.g., representing its
pose) can be obtained when the particles
 a) Have similar weights and are concentrated in a small region of the state space.
 b) Are concentrated in a small region of the state space.
 c) Have similar weights.
 d) Have similar weights and are concentrated in a small region of the state space.

16. A mobile robot is using Monte-Carlo Localization (MCL) to estimate its position based
on triangulation. In case the robot (with an orientation of x rad in the world reference
frame, measured independently and with high accuracy) can only see a beacon and
measures a bearing of y rad with respect to it (x, y > 0; x + y < 𝜋/2), an efficient
strategy to recover its position if kidnapping has been detected would be:
 a) Just apply the basic algorithm with update, prediction and re-sampling steps.
 b) Perform a sampling step including in the new set of particles samples drawn
from a uniform random distribution over the position space.
 c) Perform a sampling step including in the new set of particles samples drawn
from a line segment in position space, passing through (and ending at) the
detected beacon position and with a slope of tan (x + y), with added noise to
reflect measurement uncertainty.
 d) Perform a sampling step including in the new set of particles samples drawn
from a circle in position space, centred at the detected beacon position, with
added noise to reflect measurement uncertainty.

17. If z represents an image from a camera where a given object can be found, and x
represents the cup position, p(z|x) – the measurement model – means:
 a) The probability of a given object location being x when the image taken
by the same camera is z.
 b) The probability of measuring z when action x was taken by the robot
bearing the camera.
 c) The possible images z taken by the same camera when the object is in
position x.
 d) The probability of a given image, taken by the same camera, occurring
when the actual position x of the object is given.

18. A technique to avoid particle depletion in particle filters consists of:

 a) Performing the re-sampling step more often.
 b) Performing the re-sampling step always.
 c) Performing the re-sampling step only when a few particles have the whole
weight.
 d) Performing the re-sampling step only when all particle weights are equal.

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19. Which of the following represents distinctive features between FastSLAM and EKF-
SLAM?
a) At each time instant, FastSLAM uses particles to represent hypotheses
about the state (i.e., the vehicle pose and the landmark positions), while

EKF-SLAM assumes a single hypothesis for the same state at that time
instant.
b) At each time instant, FastSLAM uses particles to represent hypotheses
about the state of the vehicle (i.e., the vehicle pose), each of them with an
associated Kalman filter to estimate the current position of each landmark),

while EKF-SLAM assumes a single hypothesis for the joint state of the
vehicle (i.e., its pose) and of the landmarks (i.e., their positions) at that time
instant.
c) At each time instant, FastSLAM represents a single hypothesis for the state
(i.e., the vehicle pose and the landmark positions) at that time instant, while
 EKF-SLAM represents several hypotheses about the state of the vehicle
(i.e., the vehicle pose), each of them with an associated particle filter to
estimate the current position of each landmark.

 d) There are no differences regarding hypotheses about the state at each time
instant.

20. Graph-based SLAM methods determine the vehicle path (as a sequence of poses) and
the position of landmarks (representing a map):
 a) By solving an optimization problem that maximizes the posterior
probability mass function of the path and landmark locations given the
history of movements and measurements made by the vehicle.
 b) By solving an optimization problem that maximizes the likelihood of the
path and landmark locations.
 c) By solving an optimization problem that minimizes the error between the
actual path and landmark locations and those predicted from the history of
movements and measurements made by the vehicle.
 d) By using an optimal Bayes’ filter where the state is composed of the path
and landmark locations.

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