ME 439: Introduction to Robotics

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ME 439 - Introduction to Robotics

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Catalog Description

439 Introduction to Robotics. (Crosslisted with ECE 439.) II; 3 cr. A system engineering approach to robotic science and technology. Fundamentals of manipulators, sensors, actuators, end effectors and product design for automation. Kinematics, control, and programming of manipulators, along with introduction to pattern recognition and computer vision. P: ME 340 or ECE 332 equiv & familiarity with a high level programming such as C, Pascal or Matlab.

Course Prerequisite(s)

See catalog description above.

Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills

Exposure to control methods.
Exposure to linear algebra and matrix operations.
Exposure to programming in a high level language

Textbook(s) and/or other required material

Spong, Hutchinson & Vidyasagar "Robot Modeling and Control", Wiley, 2005

Course objectives

The goal of the course is to familiarize the students with the concepts and techniques in robot manipulator control, enough to evaluate, chose, and incorporate robots in engineering systems.

Topics covered

Robot System Concepts
Robotic Fundamentals

Kinematics
Forces, Moments and Euler's Laws
Control Techniques
Path Control

Robot Capabilities

Arm Tooling and End Effectors
Assembly
Compliance

Robot Sensors

contact sensors
proximity sensors
machine vision systems

Robot and System Integration

programming and teach mode for manipulators
interfaces

Applications and Advanced Topics

Class/laboratory schedule

2 lectures (75 minutes each). Hands-on sessions are during class hours approximately 4 times per semester. Four assignments (performed in the lab) are scheduled with a sign-up sheet - these sessions last about 1 hour. Project work is performed in the lab or in other labs/computer labs.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component

This course contributes primarily to the students' knowledge of engineering topics, and does provide design experience.

The following statement indicates which of the following considerations are included in this course: economic, environmental, ethical, political, societal, health and safety, manufacturability, sustainability.

Ethical/social issues are discussed (replacement of workers with robots). economics of robots (installation/maintenance/fixturing costs) are discussed. The application of robotic solutions to health care, safety, environmental cleanup is discussed.

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives and outcomes

This course serves students in a variety of engineering majors. The information below describes how the course contributes to the college's educational objectives.

Course is crosslisted with ECE and draws students from ME, ECE and MSE. The study of robots is interdisciplinary by nature. The course provides the opportunity for students from various engineering disciplines to work together, sharing their individual expertise. Lab groups are selected to permit students from different departments to work together in solving problems that require skills from each discipline.

Assessment of student progress toward course objectives

4 homework assignments are given. The assignments typically require the students to use/program robots and robot sensors to perform a task. Classes discuss the theory, assignments encourage the student to understand/see how mathematical models developed in class apply in a physical setting.

Students do a project that enables them to explore one aspect of robotics more thoroughly.

A midterm and final exam are given to assess students understanding of fundamental concepts.

Person(s) who prepared this description

Nicola J. Ferrier

Copyright 2009 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: 29-Sep-2009
Content by: deptinfo@me.engr.wisc.edu
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