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This unit introduces students to the field of robotic manipulation, which is widely used in several application areas, from manufacturing to surgery, agriculture to social care.  

Manipulators allow robots to interact with their environment and are critical to their full potential to assist humans with tasks.  

Students will learn how to create kinematic and dynamic models for manipulators before developing a range of controllers to enable them to complete tasks.

The unit aims to: Introduce students to the fundamental concepts underpinning robotic manipulators, from the principles of design of manipulators and end-effectors to the modelling and control for various applications. 

On successful completion of the course, a student will be able to:

ILO 1: Describe the key components of a robotic manipulator and evaluate the effectiveness of end-effectors for a given task.

ILO 2: Formulate kinematic and dynamic models for robotic manipulators.

ILO 3: Design and implement appropriate closed-loop controllers for robotic manipulator tasks.

ILO 4: Analyse the control system performance against appropriate metrics.

ILO 5: Present scientific data to professional engineering and/or lay audiences.

The unit allows the use of blended learning materials.  Students can engage with asynchronous materials such as videos, lecture notes, and formative quizzes prior to the synchronous sessions to learn the fundamental material on the topics.  

The synchronous sessions are divided into lectures, laboratory sessions, and assessment sessions.  The laboratory sessions are meant to introduce students to the computational content and environment, including mock assessments to help them understand the assessment style, common rubrics, and feedback pathways.  

The assessment follows the continuous assessment rules being developed in the department.  

Exam (70%) - departmental feedback form after the exam board.

Continuous assessment (30%)  - In-session or 1 week after submission.

Robot Modeling and Control, 2nd Edition, Mark W. Spong, Seth Hutchinson,M. Vidyasagar, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2020

Siciliano, B., Sciavicco, L., Vilani, L., & Oriolo, G. (2009). Robotics: Modelling, Planning and Control. In Advanced Textbooks in Control and Signal Processing. Springer-Verlag London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-642-1.