Introduction to Robotics - 605.613

This course introduces the fundamentals of robot design and development with an emphasis on autonomy. Robot design, navigation, obstacle avoidance, and artificial intelligence will be discussed. Topics covered in robot design include robot structure, kinematics and dynamics, the mathematics of robot control (multiple coordinate systems and transformations), and designing for autonomy. Navigation topics include path planning, position estimation, sensors (e.g., vision, ultrasonics, and lasers), and sensor fusion. Obstacle avoidance topics include obstacle characterization, object detection, sensors and sensor fusion. Topics to be discussed in artificial intelligence include learning, reasoning, and decision making. Students will deepen their understanding through several assignments and the term-long robot development project.