Hands-on AI with Java : Smart Gaming, Robots, and More [Paperback]

Edwin Wise (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0071424962 | ISBN-13: 978-0071424967 | Edition: 1

Covering multiple techniques and featuring hands-on examples for practical application of AI in robotics, games, and the Web -- complete with plenty of sample Java code, this book is great for game and applications programmers, robotic hobbyists, and artificial intelligence enthusiasts who want to bypass the heavy-duty math.

* Introduces readers to the techniques of AI, then uses Java to fully illustrate them
* Heavy emphasis on "simulated intelligence" -- the biologically inspired forms of AI
* Sample problems include: balancing an inverted pole, predator/prey simulations, text interaction with humans (online tutorials, help desk, etc.)
* Includes Java code that can be used in a host of areas such as games, robotics, web agents, etc.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Demystify AI and Make It Work -- or Play!

* Give your robot uncanny abilities
* Build programs that work intelligently with humans
* Add smarts to computer games
* Program optimal path-finding for machining and robotics

LEARN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECTS

Edwin Wise’' Hands-On AI with Java shows you how to put AI techniques to work in a wide variety of useful and entertaining ways.

Robot builders, hobbyists, game developers, automated-help-desk programmers, and even manufacturing engineers can take advantage of Wise’s clear explanations and generous samples of customizable Java code. This book shows you how to:

* Give computer game characters role-playing and decision-making skills
* Simulate evolution to find solutions to hard problems
* Develop machine-to-human text interactions for help desks, adventure games, computerized tutorials, and Web agents
* Guide machine tools for intelligent behavior, such as tool-path optimization and efficient sheet utilization
* Teach your computer to play strategy games
* Solve control problems, including the classic inverted-pole problem

With its own helpful Web site (and an author who answers e-mails), Hands-On AI with Java is the perfect starting point in artificial intelligence.

About the Author

Edwin Wise is Vice President of Development and partner at Wittlock Engineering, LLC, Austin, Texas. His expertise and interests range from basic electronics and software development to microcontrollers, AI, and robots. He is the author of Applied Robotics; Applied Robotics II; and Animatronics: A Guide to Animated Holiday Displays. He lives in Austin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; 1 edition (January 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071424962
• ISBN-13: 978-0071424967
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,074,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing CD, May 25, 2004

By 

Edwin Wise "Author and Rogue Technologist" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hands-on AI with Java : Smart Gaming, Robots, and More (Paperback)

The CD for this book was not included... an error by the publisher who is hoping to fix it some time in the future.

All of the code can be found at http://www.simreal.com and yes, contrary to some reports, it does in fact all compile and work.

This book is introductory in scope and provides working examples for a number of AI techniques, written in Java.

The author (me) can be contacted at [e-mail].

27 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Poor waste of time and money-, February 23, 2004

By 

T. Fitzpatrick "Thornite" (Mid-State NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hands-on AI with Java : Smart Gaming, Robots, and More (Paperback)

This book was not very informative, and wasn't much more
than an author's personal flag waving about the facts that
making packages are possible. The book comes without the cd,
no code dump's/listings, and much worse, doesn't really
compile most of the time. The content is confusing at best,
and I was quite frustrated that the author was audacious
enough to put the name Java on the cover. Not even good as
a reference-

Don't let the cover image fool you, the author should stick
to cover design, ...if that.

Take some advice, don't waste your money as i did.
Buy a better reference like:
Constructing Intelligent Agents Using Java: Pro. Developer's Guide, 2E;
ISBN: 047139601X

I have personally perused the Constructing... book in a local
bookstore and found it much more worth my time and on point.

This better help-

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of information, not much instruction, June 1, 2006

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hands-on AI with Java : Smart Gaming, Robots, and More (Paperback)

This book has all of the right topics: control, finite state machines, search algorithms, neural networks, etc. However, in the end, you really won't learn anything. It is ponderous that this author could fill so many pages with text, figures, equations, and code and never actually tell you anything. The problem is, that everything he tells you is correct. However, in the end, it is like a jigsaw puzzle with all of the pieces thrown up in the air. Yes, he shows Java code, but the guts of the algorithms that make it perform artificial intelligence tasks are missing. Yes, his equations are all correct, but he doesn't tell you how he is going to take these equations, form an algorithm, and then turn that into Java code that works to control a robot - not on a macro level, not on a micro level.

I suggest that instead of this book you look at several other good ones on the subject. For learning neural networks and their implementation in Java, I really enjoyed "Introduction to Neural Networks with Java" by Heaton. For a good practical book on behavior-based robotics try "Robot Programming : A Practical Guide to Behavior-Based Robotics" by Jones and Roth. They do an excellent job of describing state machines and algorithms for robotic control where this book fails miserably. "AI Application Programming" does a good job of explaining all of the AI algorithms on a practical level with plenty of working code. Finally, you might want to look at "The Definitive Guide to Building Java Robots" only if you already know the algorithms involved in building robots, but you would like a tutorial in how some of the specialized Java API's might help you perform this task. For example it shows how to use the Java Speech API implementation, FreeTTS, for doing speech recognition and synthesis on a robot.