24-775 Special Topics: Robot Design & Experimentation

Meeting Times: Tuesdays/Thursdays 10:30-11:50am
Meeting Location: Wean Hall 5415
Semester: Spring
Units: 12

Instructor information

Name: Prof. Aaron M. Johnson
E-Mail: amj1@cmu.edu
Office location: Scaife Hall 306
Office hours: TBD

TA Information

Name: Angelos Mavrogiannis
E-Mail: angelosm@andrew.cmu.edu
Office location: TBD
Office hours: TBD

2018 Class Project Videos -- 2019 Class Project Videos

This Year's Project Theme: Bioinspired Robotics

The class theme for this year is "Bioinspired Robotics". Student projects will all be related to this theme. At the beginning of the semester, the class will take a field trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo to help generate project ideas. Additional class topics from this theme will include bioinspiration vs biomimetics, comparative morphology, locomotion & gaits, and the differences between engineered and biological systems.

Course Description

This course will give students hands on experience designing, building, and analyzing robotic systems. Through a semester-long project, students will need to propose and test a research hypothesis with an experimental robotic system. Each year projects will be drawn from a theme (such as bioinspired robotics, agricultural robotics, or robotics for social change), and the class will cover topics from that area in addition to robotic component design, systems integration, and experimental instrumentation. This class provides the opportunity for students to apply techniques in design, control, and analysis that students have acquired during their graduate studies. Students are expected to be comfortable programming in Matlab and have some prior graduate-level experience in mechanical design, controls, optimization, or robotics.

Prerequisites

Comfortable programming in Matlab
Prior graduate-level experience in mechanical design, controls, optimization, or robotics, such as:
- 24-673 Soft Robotics
- 24-760 Robot Dynamics and Analysis
- 24-771 Linear Systems
- 24-785 Engineering Optimization
- 24-787 AI and ML for Engineering Design
- 16-711 Kinematics, Dynamic Systems, and Control
- 16-741 Mechanics of Manipulation
- 16-868 Biomechatronics
- or similar courses with instructor permission
Recommended: This class will involve making physical prototypes, therefore access and experience on the makerspace equipment will be helpful. If you do not have any fabrication experience, it is recommended that you sign up for 24-104 Maker Series I, a 3 unit mini. To use the makerspace equipment, you must have completed or be enrolled in one of the following classes:
- 24-104 Maker Series I (Mini)
- 24-105 Intro to Laser Cutting (Micro)
- 24-370 Engineering Design I: Methods and Skills
- 24-672 DIY Design and Fabrication
- 99-353 IDeATe: SolidWorks and Laser Cutting

Learning Objectives

Design, build, and analyze a robotic system
Propose and test a research question or hypothesis
Apply techniques in design, controls, and mathematical analysis
Ability to work in teams on a project of engineering relevance
Ability to disseminate work in small groups, presentations, video, and in writing

Assessments

The final course grade will be calculated using the following categories:

Assessment	Percentage of Final Grade
Homeworks	25
Project Proposal Presentation	10
Project Proposal Document	15
Final Project Presentation	10
Final Project Document	30
Final Project Video	10

Topic List

Bioinspiration
- Animal Behaviors
- Locomotion
- Mechanical Intelligence
- Scaling
Robot Design
- Motors & Actuators
- Electronics
- Sensors
- Modeling
- Control and Planning
Robot Experimentation
- Experimental Design
- Efficiency and other Performance Metrics
- Reproducibility