Introduction to Automation and Robotics

(3-0-3-4)

CMPE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the CMPE degree.

EE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the EE degree.

Lab Hours: 0 supervised lab hours and 3 unsupervised lab hours.

Technical Interest Groups / Course Categories: Threads / ECE Electives

Course Coordinator: Maegan Tucker

Prerequisites: ECE 3084 [min C] or 3550 [min D]

Catalog Description

Fundamental disciplines of modern robotics: mechanics, control, and computing. Analysis, design, and control of mobile robots and manipulators. Course may contain team projects and hands-on labs.

Textbook(s)

Introduction to Robotics, Mechanics and Control, Robot Modeling and Control, Robotics, Vision and Control: Fundamental Algorithms In MATLAB, Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots

Course Outcomes

Describe the dynamics of robots using mathematical formulation.

Design feedback control laws for robot motion stability and accurate tracking. 

Develop software programs to generate motion plans for robots to achieve design goals. 

Develop algorithms to process sensor data collected by robots. 

Use open-source robotic software packages to design missions.

Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)

N/A

Topic List

  1. Designing for Automation and Concurrent Engineering Principles (2 weeks)
    1. Hard vs. Flexible Automation
    2. Basis Concepts in Concurrent Engineering
    3. Team Projects
  2. Anatomy of a Robot (1 week)
    1. Classification of Robots
    2. Robot Configurations
    3. Robot Components
    4. Performance Characteristics
  3. Object Location (1 week)
    1. Cartesian Coordinates
    2. Joint Coordinates
    3. Coordinate Transformations
  4. Manipulator Kinematics (2 weeks)
    1. Direct and Inverse Kinematics
    2. Solving the Arm Equation
    3. Examples
  5. Differential Motion (1 week)
    1. the Manipulator Jacobian
  6. Manipulator Dynamics (2 weeks)
    1. Lagrange-Euler Equations
    2. Other Formulations
    3. Software Tools and Examples
  7. Task Planning (1 week)
    1. Workspace Analysis
    2. Trajectory Planning
  8. Robot Control (2 weeks)
    1. Position/Torque Control
    2. Advanced Control Methods
  9. Sensors and Sensing Strategies (1 week)
    1. Vision, force/Torque and proximity sensors
  10. Applications (1 week)
  11. Intelligent Robotic Systems (1 week)
    1. Autonomous Robots