Spring 2009 |
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Instructor: Monica Nicolescu | ||||||||
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Teaching/laboratory assistant: Brad Towle | ||||||||
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Time and Place | ||||||||
| Lectures: Tuesday: 2:30-3:45pm, LME 316 Labs: Thursday: 2:30-3:45pm, LME 321 | ||||||||
Required Textbooks | ||||||||
| The Robotics Primer,
2007. Author: Maja Mataric' |
 | Robotic Explorations: An Introduction to Engineering Through Design,
2001. Author: Fred G. Martin |
Course description |
| This is a hands-on course on introduction to robotics, relying on the use of LEGO-based robots. The course will present the basic concepts in robotics, such as sensors, actuators, and will describe the most important approaches to robot control. Students will have the opportunity to apply the concepts covered during the lectures in the laboratory sessions, by constructing their own robots and developing controllers for various robotic tasks. The class will have a lecture and a laboratory component. Each week, the lectures will be held on Tuesdays, and the laboratory sessions will be held on Thursdays. More details regarding the lectures and the laboratory sessions will be posted on the web page soon. |
Prerequisites |
| The class requires good programming skills and that you should be familiar with the C programming environment. For the undergraduate section, a letter grade of B+ and better in CS 201 is recommended. |
Laboratory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The laboratory sessions will be focused on building and programming LEGO based robots. The robots will be equipped with a Handy Board microcontroller that can be programmed using Interactive C. A reference on the Handy Board and Interactive C can be found here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Syllabus |
| Following are the topics that will be discussed, listed in the approximate order in which they will be covered. |
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Class schedule |
| The topics presented and the lecture notes for each class will gradually be posted below as we cover them in the class. The assignments and their due dates will also be posted in this table. Please check this web page regularly for updates. |
| Date | Topic | Readings | Assignments |
Jan 20 |
Introduction | --- | --- |
Jan 27 |
Brief history of robotics | --- | --- |
Feb 3 |
Effectors and actuators | --- | --- |
Feb 10 |
Manipulation, Perceptual problem | --- | --- |
Feb 17 |
Simple and Complex Sensors | --- | --- |
Feb 24 |
No class. | --- | --- |
Mar 3 |
Complex Sensors, Feedback Control | --- | Hw1 out |
Mar 10 |
MID-TERM | --- | --- |
Mar 24 |
Invited speaker lecture | --- | --- |
Mar 31 |
Control Architectures, Reactive Architectures | --- | --- |
Apr 7 |
Behavior-Based Architectures | --- | --- |
Apr 17 |
Coordination and Expression of Behaviors, Emergent Behavior | --- | Hw2 out |
Apr 21 |
Deliberative and Hybrid Architectures | --- | --- |
Apr 28 |
Robot Learning | --- | --- |
May 5 |
Final exam - in class | --- | --- |
Assignments and grading | |||||||||||||||||||
| Evaluation for this class will be based on your performance during
the laboratory sessions, two mid-term exams and a final project. Regular participation in the
laboratory sessions is required. If you are unable to attend a lab session
you must inform me in advance.
Grading policy (tentative, subject to change):
Late policy: No late submissions will be accepted. Exam policy: Permission to take exams on other dates than scheduled will not be given, except for extreme medical emergencies. Academic integrity: Students are encouraged to study together, however each student must individually prepare his/her solutions. Cheating or plagiarism are not permitted and will be sanctioned according with the UNR policy on Academic Standards. You should carefully read the section on Academic Dishonesty found in the UNR Student Handbook (copies of this section are on-line). Your continued enrollment in this course implies that you have read it, and that you subscribe to the principles stated therein.
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