Introduction to Robotics

Subject description

Introduction (industrial robot manipulator, robot vehicles, man-robot systems, biologically inspired robots, serial chain of segments and joints);  Homogenious transformations (position, orientation, pose, traslation, perspective); Scalar Denavit-Hartemberg geometric model of robot mechanism (cylindrical, spherical, SCARA, antropomorphic, spheric wrist); Vector model of robot mechanism (cylindrical, spherical, SCARA, anthropomorphic, spheric wrist);  Inverse geometry model of robot mechanism, Rotation and orientation (Euler and RPY angles, Rodrigues formula, quaternions).

The subject is taught in programs

Electrical engineering 1st level

Objectives and competences

Introduction to robotics is a course, where the student first meets the robots. The course deals with geometrical models of robot mechanisms in a very general way that the knowledge is efficiently used also in problems on the fields of virtual environment, machine vision and computer graphics. For the lab part of the course students are grouped into small groups to acquire skills in industrial robot programming and use of robotic CAD tools.

Teaching and learning methods

Students have available books with condensed  content. Within the lectures there is presented larger number of cases for each chapter. Some robot areas are presented by using "video lectures" (robots in medicine, entertainment robotics, walking robots, mobile robots, robot grippers, service robotics, robot vision, rehabilitation robotics). Regularly are invited speakers from Slovenian industry and research institutes. Occasionally are invited speakers form abroad. Lab exercises offer also work on larger number of modern industrial robots. Students cooperate in smaller groups. Special care is taken to a security issues in proximity with robots.

Expected study results

After sccessful completion of the course, students should be able to:

– describe industrial robots,

– recognize various ways of orientation and rotation description,

– develop kinematic models of serial mechanism,

– use Denavit-Hartemberg geometry model, vector model and qauternions for kinematic calculations,

– operate  robots and design basic robot programs on existing industrial, cooperative, mobile and humanoid robots,

– compare the simulation generated robot program with execution on a real robot.

Basic sources and literature

1. T. Bajd, M. Mihelj, M. Munih: Introduction to robotics, Springer, 2013.

2. T. Bajd, J. Lenarčič, M. Mihelj, A. Stanovnik, M. Munih: Robotics, Springer, 2010.

3. T. Bajd, M. Mihelj, M. Munih: Osnove robotike, Založba FE in FRI, 2011.

4. J.B. Kuipers: Quaternions and Rotation Sequences, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1999.

5. L. Sciavicco, B. Siciliano: Robotics: Modelling, Planning and Control, Springer, 2009.

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