16-741 Mechanics of Manipulation

Spring 2013

Instructor: Matthew Mason
TA: Yin Zhang
Admin: Jean Harpley

12 units
Where: NSH 3002
When: MW, and sometimes F. 1:30 pm- 2:50 pm

Matt's office hour: W 3:00 pm or by appointment
Yin's office hours: Th 2:00 - 4:00 pm or by appointment

Textbook:

Mechanics of Robotic Manipulation, by Matthew T. Mason. MIT Press, 2001.

Errata page.

You can reach the online version of the textbook here. (If you were inside the CMU network, this used to be free. It's not working for me now ... 13 Jan 2013.)

Prerequisites are:

Goal:

To understand the mechanical processes governing manipulation, with a focus on the interaction of hand with environment. The class focuses on models founded on classical mechanics: kinematics, statics, and dynamics of interacting rigid bodies. We will develop techniques for rigid body mechanics, kinematic constraint, Coulomb friction, gravity, and impact, and apply these techniques to manipulation problems including picking and placing, parts orienting, assembly, and mobile manipulation.