Instructors

Lectures: Martin Jagersand
Labs: Riley Zilka

Pre-and Co-requisites:

Pre-requisite: CMPUT 274/275 We will build on the embedded systems skills in these courses. If you feel you have equivalent exerience, or can learn this easily, email the instuctor with a CV and transcript asking for a waiver.
Co-requisite CMPUT 340 or ECE 240 You must have taken before or be registered in CMPUT 340 in the same term. Note that 340 has your basic math and linear algebra as pre-requisites. We will use these math concepts to develop kinematic and dynamic models of robots. It is a good idea to take a look at the course slides (Link "Lecture Topics" and e.g. Lecture 7 and 7b), and make sure you are comfortable with the level of math.

Communication

The course web page with course material, due dates etc:
http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~vis/courses/robotics
eClass forums are for questions and on-line discussion (not personal email!) (I've requested a new eClass page, but not got it yet)
https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/user/index.php?id=99650
Course instructor available for meetings Tue, Thu after class. TA by arrangement.

Course Outline

• Introduction
• Robot hardware for mobile robots, arms and UAV's
• Reactive robotics
• Modeling mobile robots, kinematics
• Dynamics and control
• Robot sensors
• Robot arm types and kinematics
• Analytic and numerical inverse kinematics
• Machine vision and image processing
• Visual servo motion control
• Robot systems and mechatronics

Labs

• Much of the learning takes place in the lab. We use Lego Mindstorms kits.
• Lab assignments will include build a mobile robot, study stability of control, build a robot arm, and a course project selected from a list of topics.

Schedule

Lectures: Tuesday, Thursday 3:30-4:50, CSC B02
Lab Monday 5-7:50, CSC 105

Grading

Written in-class exams:

20% Exam 1 approx 1/3 into course, see calendar
20% Exam 2 approx 2/3 into course, see calendar

30% Assignments throughout the term, see on-line schedule
6% Literature reading and presentation.
24% Project, (8% proposal & review, + 16% final demo in class last week

A grade of "satisfactory" requires a working knowledge of how to solve applied robotics problems. For higher grades additionally an understanding of the derivation of methods, their properties and context will be required.

Literature

• The course is defined by the lecture, and particularly the real robotics experience gained in the labs and the project.
• A good general and practical book for those who want to read more on topics: Robotics, Vision and Control by Peter Corke (Free access through UofA Digital library)
• Chapter 3 on geometry and particularly Ch 3.3 on homogeneous coordinates, (supporting Lecture 8 slides) "Modern Robotics" Kevin M. Lynch, Frank Park.
  
  A few useful reference books:
• A broad, but non-mathematical introduction: "The Robotics Primer" by Maja Mataric by MIT Press 2007. Price: $30.00 On-line workbook
• A general introductory textbook (recommended) "Robotics Modelling, Planning and Control" Bruno Siciliano, Lorenzo Sciavicco, Luigi Villani, Giuseppe Oriolo
• Robotics from an engineering perspective: "Robot modeling and control" Spong, Mark W. Hutchinson Seth Vidsayar Wiley 2007
• A downloadable comprehensive text, using the exponential notation for rotations "A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation" Richard M. Murray, Zexiang Li and S. Shankar Sastry. Lots of material on-line
• Book on control: Feedback Systems Karl Johan Aström, Richard M. Murray
• Technical book on space represenataitons and path planning: "Principles Of Robot Motion Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations" By Howie Choset, Kevin M. Lynch, Seth Hutchinson, George A. Kantor, Wolfram Burgard, Lydia E. Kavraki and Sebastian Thrun MIT Press 2005