Section 1.5 Glossary
- Sense-Plan-Act (Perception-Planning-Control) Loop
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A repeating robot workflow where the system senses the environment, plans a response, and acts through actuators.
- Perception (Sense)
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The stage where a robot gathers and interprets sensor data to estimate state and environment conditions.
- Planning (Plan)
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The stage where a robot selects actions to achieve goals while respecting constraints.
- Control (Act)
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The stage where a robot sends low-level commands to actuators to execute planned behavior.
- Feedback
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Information returned from sensors after action, used to detect error and correct behavior.
- Open-Loop Control
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Control without live output feedback; commands are executed without automatic correction during motion.
- Closed-Loop Control
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Control that continuously compares measured output to a target and updates commands to reduce error.
- Setpoint
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The desired target value for a controlled variable, such as speed, position, or altitude.
- Error
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The difference between setpoint and measured output.
- Proportional Control (P-Control)
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A control method where output is proportional to current error, often written as \(u=K_p e\text{.}\)
- Proportional Gain (\(K_p\))
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The tuning coefficient that scales how strongly proportional control responds to error.
- Integral Control (I-Control)
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A control method that accumulates past error over time and pushes the system harder the longer an error persists, often written as \(u_i = K_i \int_0^t e(\tau)\,d\tau\text{.}\)
- Integral Gain (\(K_i\))
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The tuning coefficient that scales how strongly integral control responds to accumulated error.
- Integral Windup
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Excessive accumulated error in the integral term, typically caused by an overly high \(K_i\text{,}\) that causes the system to overshoot its setpoint before correcting.
- Derivative Control (D-Control)
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A control method that reacts to the rate of change of error to anticipate and dampen future error, often written as \(u_d = K_d \frac{de(t)}{dt}\text{.}\)
- Derivative Gain (\(K_d\))
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The tuning coefficient that scales how strongly derivative control responds to the rate of change of error.
- PID Control
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A closed-loop controller combining proportional, integral, and derivative terms for improved accuracy and stability.
- Steady-State Error
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Persistent residual error remaining after transient behavior has mostly settled.
- Sensor
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A device that provides input data about robot state or environment (for example, camera, encoder, IMU, LiDAR, GPS).
- Actuator
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A device that produces physical output from commands (for example, motor, servo, pneumatic cylinder, gripper).
- Encoder
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A sensor that measures rotational motion, commonly used to estimate wheel or joint displacement.
- Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)
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A sensor package that estimates orientation and acceleration.
- LiDAR
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A ranging sensor that measures distance by laser reflections to build geometric environment structure.
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