| Category | Difficulty (Out of 5) |
|---|---|
| Homework - Programming | 3 |
| Homework - Written | 4 |
| Final Project | 3.5 |
| Exams | 5 |
16-384 is a required class for students interested in pursuing an additional major in Robotics. This course mainly focuses on:
- how to manipulate a robot arm with multiple degrees of freedom
- how to know where the end of your robot arm is given a specific configuration (angles in joints)
- how to know your robot arm's configuration given the end position
- how to change your robot arm's position and velocity
- how much torque your robot arm experiences and exerts
- how to mathematically represent a complicated, multiple-joint robotics arm
- ... This class has the fundamental mathematics and techniques in kinematics and dynamics. By completing programming assignments on using the Hebi robotics arm and written assignment to practice the math, students will have the skill to accomplish the final project: making the robot arm build a Jenga tower. The workload in this class is moderate and details about topics, class structure, and assignments are mentioned below:
- Rigid Body Motions
- Forward Kinematics
- Jacobian
- Inverse Kinematics
- Dynamics of Point Masses
- Denavit-Hartenberg Representation
- Angular Velocity
- Forward Differential Kinematics
- Inverse Differential Kinematics
*note that all topics are extended from 2D to 3D as the class proceeds.
- Lectures on the above topics
- there are mini lectures on OLI modules that can help you review/preview
- lectures consist of concepts and examples
- TAs will go through HW problems during the class
- Homework
- programming: uses the robotics arm in REL (robotics education lab, in NSH 3rd floor)
- written: mathematics on topics mentioned above
- no late handin
- Midterm
- during the class time
- quite hard
- Final project & competition
- robot building Jenga tower
- the team building the tower the highest in 30 seconds gets 100 on the final
The homework usually comes in two parts: the written one and the programming one. The written part will guide you through the calculation and give you a picture on how to implement this in the programming part. The programming part will be in MATLAB. It's okay to not have the prior knowledge about it (there is a warm up homework 0). Most stuff in this class is about linear algebra, so it is good to take classes about linear algebra before taking this class. This class does not allow late submissions. If you need extensions, be sure to take with instructors ahead of time.
A small portion of the grade in this class goes to OLI module, and their deadlines are pretty frequent. Although it is okay to miss one or two, make sure you do not miss a lot of them.
There will be two exams in this class, and both of them are pretty intense. Students from last year were struggling trying to finish the Lagrangian question. Be sure to review homework and be comfortable doing the calculation before the exam.
The final project consists of two parts: a checkpoint and a final. Final project will be in teams of 2. The checkpoint is about laying a single layer of Jenga blocks, and the final is about laying 3 layers of Jenga blocks with a time constraint. Therefore, try to reserve enough time for the final, because you can use plenty methods to get away with the checkpoint, but not the same for final. There is a competition on building the highest Jenga structure in 30 seconds, with auto 100 on the final exam as a reward. This competition is not mandatory, so you can also have fun watching other people's robot in the competition!
- Attend lectures and keep up with lectures.
- Ask questions on Piazza when in doubt.
- There are modules on OLI for helping you review/preview materials.
- Pay attention to homeowrk feedback and don't submit them late.
- Be sure to prepare the exam both in concepts and calculations.
- Start the final project early! Otherwise people fight for robot usage 3 AM before the demo day.
- Have fun!