Computer science isn't about programming, it's about math and logic. Computer science has actually been around since before computers!
Most schools with good comp sci programs will focus heavily on math, logic, algorithms, data structures... I think most schools also offer courses in Machine Learning? They may be graduate-level at some schools but I think you can take them as electives.
Anyway, it's never too late! Here are the topics that were covered in my intro class > 10 years ago. Now, you can find all sorts of cool open source libraries to play around with instead of writing it all from scratch in C with nothing but obscure mathematical notation to work from!
There is a lot of code running on the robot, but we generally avoid recursion to keep things more maintanable. It's goals are defined by the behaviors and motivations you have specified, which become a complex subject.
I'm taking an ML course as my institution alongside this course. The book assigned in my other course was Machine Learning, Mitchell. It's pretty old but my professor referred to it as the bible for ML; but I've heard the Bible reference many times before.
I've been doing the readings and I like the book. The way it reads is very nice and it's an awesome supplement for anyone interested in ML.
The Bishop book mentioned here was a (strongly) recommended supplement in the course as well. I got both and although Bishop requires more focus to read (IMO) it has tons of great information.
If you're interested in this stuff (and just getting started), then I highly recommend this book - http://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Modern-Approach-Edition/dp/0136042597
When you're ready to go deeper, then this one is even better http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Learning-Tom-M-Mitchell/dp/0070428077/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341852604&sr=1-2&keywords=machine+learning
That second book is a little older, but all of its algorithms/techniques are still relevant today.
if you want machine learning, I'd recommend Mitchell: http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Learning-Tom-M-Mitchell/dp/0070428077/
Computer science isn't about programming, it's about math and logic. Computer science has actually been around since before computers!
Most schools with good comp sci programs will focus heavily on math, logic, algorithms, data structures... I think most schools also offer courses in Machine Learning? They may be graduate-level at some schools but I think you can take them as electives.
Anyway, it's never too late! Here are the topics that were covered in my intro class > 10 years ago. Now, you can find all sorts of cool open source libraries to play around with instead of writing it all from scratch in C with nothing but obscure mathematical notation to work from!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_tree_learning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_algorithm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_programming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naive_Bayes_classifier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-nearest_neighbors_algorithm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_rule_learning
You could use this text, but it reads like a math journal so I advise finding a friendlier, programming-centric treatment.
Machine Learning, Mitchell
https://www.amazon.com/Machine-Learning-Tom-M-Mitchell/dp/0070428077
Reinforcement Learning, Sutton & Barto
https://www.amazon.com/Reinforcement-Learning-Introduction-Adaptive-Computation/dp/0262193981
Artificial Intelligence, Norvig & Russell
https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Modern-Approach-3rd/dp/0136042597
There is a lot of code running on the robot, but we generally avoid recursion to keep things more maintanable. It's goals are defined by the behaviors and motivations you have specified, which become a complex subject.
I'd recommend Machine Learning by Tom Mitchell
I'm taking an ML course as my institution alongside this course. The book assigned in my other course was Machine Learning, Mitchell. It's pretty old but my professor referred to it as the bible for ML; but I've heard the Bible reference many times before.
I've been doing the readings and I like the book. The way it reads is very nice and it's an awesome supplement for anyone interested in ML.
The Bishop book mentioned here was a (strongly) recommended supplement in the course as well. I got both and although Bishop requires more focus to read (IMO) it has tons of great information.
Maybe add this book to this list of books? its modern and by the editor of the Machine Learning Journal
http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Learning-Science-Algorithms-Sense/dp/1107422221
http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Learning-Tom-M-Mitchell/dp/0070428077/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397051304&sr=1-3&keywords=machine+learning is old but a classic.
And http://www.amazon.com/Data-Mining-Practical-Techniques-Management/dp/0123748569/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397051336&sr=1-1&keywords=data+mining
Is a good by the authors of weka as well.
There are of course a lot of books but I think these are good ones for beginners.