Why take this class? 

Robots have made a profound impact in our lives. It is almost impossible to imagine a world without them. Without robots, we would not have phones (mass-produced by robot manipulators), delivery services (fulfilled by mobile robots), or affordable electronics. But still, robots have ways to go. Open-ended problems with robots are endless from space exploration, self-driving, and general-purpose home assistants. In this class, we will take the first steps to creating machines that can think and act (robots). We will go over the fundamentals of robotic behavior by studying robot kinematics, dynamics, and control. Following this, we will study how robots can plan long-term behaviors in their environments without crashing into obstacles. Finally, we will see how modern ideas in optimization and AI can enable robotic grasping, self-driving, and walking. This introductory course will focus on understanding foundational robotic concepts, while broadly looking at their application in the real world.

What are you expected to do?

This class is aimed towards advanced undergraduates and particularly towards students who want to learn robotics and robot AI, but who have never worked on a robot before. This will be a HW and project driven class. There will be no mid-term or final exams. Instead, you will be expected to implement concepts discussed and taught in this class. 

Prerequisites

• Linear algebra, basics of probability, solving basic differential equations
• Coding in Python and familiarity with Ubuntu OS.

Lecture

• Lectures will be held in person.
• The class will be recorded, we will post the link to the recorded lectures to the class campuswire.

Grading

• Homeworks (45%)
• Final Project (45%)
• Discussions, both in class and in campuswire (10%)