16-311 Spring 2009 Course Overview


The following course outline is tentative. Time allotted to some topics may be modified during the semester. Blue background denotes current week.

No student may record or tape any classroom activity without the express written consent of Howie Choset. If a student has a disability and needs to record or tape classroom activities, the student should contact the Office of Disability Resources to request an appropriate accommodation.

Material Outline

  • Introduction to Robotics (pdf)

  • Vision (pdf)
    • Projection
    • Convolution
    • Edge Detection
    • Image Interpretation and ENS (ppt) (pdf)

  • Controls (pdf)
  • Motion Planning (pdf)
    • Potential Functions
    • Roadmaps
    • Cell Decompositions

  • Sensing and Sensors (pdf)

  • Mobility - (mobile robot platforms) (pdf)

  • Inertial Navigation Systems (pdf) (Al Kelly)

  • Forward and Inverse Kinematics (pdf)
    • Transformation Matrices
    • DH Transformations

  • Inverse Kinematics
    • Geometric methods
    • Algebraic methods

  • Non-holonomic constraints (pdf)

Technical Material

Schedule
Week Day Topics Assignments
Week 1 Mon 1/12
 		 Course Overview, Logistics
Waitlist students talk to Dr. Choset		 HW1: C Programming
(due Tue, Jan 20)
Tue 1/13
 		 Intro to C Programming I --
Wed 1/14
 		 Assign Teams/Attendance
Computer Vision		 HW2: (due Thurs, Jan 22)
Rube Goldberg (Lab 1)
(demo Wed, Jan 21)
Week 2
Mon 1/19
 		 Vision
 --
Tue 1/20
 		 C Continued
 HW1 due by 3:30 PM electronically
Wed 1/21
 		 Demo Lab 1
Location: REL
Video of the lab		 HW3: Vision Programs (Lab 2)
(due Tue, Jan 27)
Thu 1/22
 		 -- HW2 due by 3:30 PM electronically
Week 3 Mon 1/26
 		 Vision Problems
 --
Tue 1/27
 		 Hand out Lego Kits (mandatory)
Location: REL		 HW3 due by 3:30 PM electronically
Wed 1/28
 		 Handy Board & Lego Controls & The Art of Lego HW4: Braitenberg Vehicles (Lab 3)
(due Tue, Feb 3)
Week 4 Mon 2/2
 		 Guest speaker: Jeff Schneider
Active Learning for Scientific Modeling and Discovery
--
Tue 2/3
 		 Demo Lab 3
Location: REL		 --
Wed 2/4
 		 Controls
Motion Planning: Bug, Potential, C-Space 		HW5 :Low-Level Base (Lab 4)
(due Wed, Feb 11)
HW4 due by 3:30 PM electronically
Week 5 Mon 2/9
 		 Motion Planning: Road Maps, Configuration Spaces --
Tue 2/10
 		 Demo Lab 4 --
Wed 2/11
 		 Motion Planning: Roadmaps, continued.
Cell Decompositions and Coverage 		HW6: Motion Planning (Lab 5)
(due Wed, Feb 18)
HW5 due at beginning of class
Week 6 Mon 2/16
 		 Guest Speaker Chris Urmson
(Urban Challenge Team Lead)		 --
Tue 2/17
 		 No class: Prep for Motion Planning  
Wed 2/18
 		 Demo Lab 5
Assign Lab 6 in parallel 		HW7: Sensors (Lab 6)
(due Wed, Mar 4)
HW6 due at beginning of class
Week 7 Mon 2/23
 		 Finish Path Planning, Sensors --
Tue 2/24
 		 Midterm Review --
Wed 2/25
 		 -- MIDTERM -- --
Week 8 Mon 3/2
 		 Explain USAR Project
Locomotion 		HW8/9/10: USAR (Lab 7)
(due Mar 17, 24, 31; Apr 1)
Tue 3/3
 		 DEMO Lab 6
Wed 3/4
 		 Go over midterm
Inertial Navigation Systems 		HW7 due at beginning of class

Spring Break

Week 9 Mon 3/16
 		 Midsemester Evaluations
Overview of Kinematics
Coordinate Transformations Intro 		--
Tue 3/17
 		 Matrix Transformations HW8 (Design Proposal) due in class
Wed 3/18
 		 3D Example
Evaluate Design Proposals (Groups) 		 
Week 10 Mon 3/23
 		 USAR Open Lab Hours
USAR Prototype Evaluations 		--
Tue 3/24
 		 Open Lab Hours
USAR Prototype Evaluations
 HW9 (Lab 7) due at 8pm
Wed 3/25
 		 USAR Prototype Selection
Feedback in Class and Final Contest Prep 		--
Week 11 Mon 3/30
 		 NO CLASS (USAR Preparation ) --
Tue 3/31
 		 USAR Demos (by appointment) HW10 due
Wed 4/1
 		 USAR Final Competition:
Location: REL (NSH 3206)
Time: 10:30-12:30		 --
Week 12 Mon 4/6
 		 USAR Wrapup
Forward Kinematics Denavit & Hartenberg
 USAR poster due at 23:59 electronically
USAR self-evaluation (optional) due at 23:59 electronically
Tue 4/7
 		 Forward Kinematics HW11: Forward Kinematics (Lab 8)
(due Wed, Apr 15)
Wed 4/8
 		 Inverse Kinematics -- 
Week 13 Mon 4/13
 		 Inverse Kinematics Meet Final Contest Team
Tue 4/14
 		 Demo Lab 8 HW12: Inverse Kinematics (Lab 9)
(due Wed, Apr 22)
Wed 4/15
 		 Guest speaker: John Bares
(Director of NREC)		 HW11 due at beginning of class
Week 14 Mon 4/20
 		 Non-Holonomic Path Planning --
Tue 4/21
 		 Non-holonomic Path Planning (Part 2) HW13: Final Contest (Lab 10)
(due Wed, April 29)
Wed 4/22
 		 Demo Lab 9 HW12 due at beginning of class
Week 15 Mon 4/27
 		 Final Review --
Tue 4/28
 		 Review for Final
 --
Wed 4/29
 		 Demo Lab 10 (Final Contest) HW13 due at beginning of class
Finals Week Tue 5/5
 		 FINAL EXAM
Time: 8.30am - 11.30am
Location: SH 125 		--
Last updated 1/12/09 by Somchaya Liemhetcharat
(c) 1999-2008: Howie Choset, Carnegie Mellon