CourseSpecifications
Valid as from the academic year 2024-2025

Robotics (E019370)

Course size
Credits 6.0(nominal values; actual values may depend on programme)
Study time 180 h

Course offerings and teaching methods in academic year 2024-2025
A (semester 1)
EnglishGent

B (semester 1)

Dutch

lecturepractical
group work

Gent

Lecturers in academic year 2024-2025
Belpaeme, Tony
Sarlette, Alaingroup work

TW06
TW06

17.5h

lecturer-in-charge
co-lecturer

Offered in the following programmes in 2024-2025
crdts
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Electrical Engineering(main subject6Communication and Information Technology )Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (main subject Communication and Information 6Technology )Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (main subject Electronic Circuits and Systems)
6
Master of Science in Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology(main subject Electronics
6Engineering)
Master of Science in Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology(main subject Embedded6Systems)
Master of Science in Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology(main subject ICT)
6Master of Science in Computer Science
6
Master of Science in Computer Science Engineering
6
Master of Science in Computer Science Engineering
6
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
6
Exchange Programme Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology
6Exchange Programme in Computer Science (master's level)
6offering
AAAA
A
AA
BA
BAA

Teaching languages
English, Dutch
Keywords
Autonomous robotic systems, mobile robots, sensors and actuators, localisation and mapping,complex sensor processing, human-robot interaction, applications of robotics
Position of the course
The field of robotics is a fast-evolving and increasingly prominent application area for artificial
intelligence and algorithms. Robotics builds on advanced informatics tools to collect andinterpret information from sensors, and to plan and perform actions based on this information.
The goal of this course is to give a quick overview of selected hardware (such as sensors,actuators, and mobile computing) to then dive into concepts and methods used to design andprogram autonomous mobile robotics. The course will focus on sensor fusion, kinematics,dynamics, localisation and mapping, and machine learning. The course will frame the content
through the presentation of use cases, such as mobile robots, human-robot interaction, andbiologically inspired robots. The theories will be applied during hands-on lab work and arobotics project.
Contents(Approved)1

A selection from the following topics:• Sensors and actuators for mobile robotics• Representation of a robotic system and its motion by transformation groups• Basic information acquisition principles: sensor properties, quantifying• information; regularization; data fusion from static to dynamic contexts.
• Direct and inverse kinematics; underactuated systems; planning robot motions and steering• with transformation groups, Denavit-Hartenberg formulation• Robot-internal representations of its environment• Navigation for autonomous robots: reasoning in a spatial environment, localisation,• (simultaneous) localisation and mapping.
• Introduction to advanced information acquisition: computer vision for robotics, information• extraction from high-dimensional data based on central model of expectations (a.o. pattern• detection, compressive sensing)• Introduction to machine learning (artificial intelligence): acquiring information on a system's• modelInitial competences
Essentials (at BSc level) of computer science, mathematics and control theory, familiarity with
programming and algorithmic thinking (e.g. in C/C++, Python or Matlab).
Final competences
1 Understand the breadth and challenges faced in the field of mobile robotics.
2 Have entry-points to the literature and current work about robotics, sensor processing and1 robot control applied to a variety of autonomous robotic tasks.
3 Understand the assumptions and rationale behind data interpretation, information extraction
1 and artificial intelligence/machine learning applied to mobile robotics.
4 Propose, analyse and compare different hard- and software options for sensing and1 actuation in mobile robotics.
5 Represent simple motion systems with matrix groups, examine their possibilities and1 limitations, derive control laws for selected mobile robots.
6 Understand simple planning strategies for mobile robots.
7 Realise and exploit the importance of a full problem formulation, including representation of
1 (expectations about) the environment, for information interpretation by mobile robots.
8 Understand a selection of application domains for mobile robot technology.
9 Understand, appreciate and apply the broad, interdisciplinary perspective on robotics
1 applications, such as human-robot interaction and biologically inspired robots.
Conditions for credit contract
Access to this course unit via a credit contract is determined after successful competences assessmentConditions for exam contract
This course unit cannot be taken via an exam contract
Teaching methods
Group work, Lecture, Practical, Independent work
Extra information on the teaching methods
The course team will offer weekly lectures on a variety of topics relevant to mobile robotics. Labsessions will be used to establish concepts and tools which will be used in a group project. The
group project (3 to 4 students per group) will take the form of a mobile robotics challenge.
Please note that the group project requires everyone to bring a laptop on which Ubuntu andROS have to be installed. The exact versions of these will be communicated by email.
Study material
Type: Handbook
Name: Probabilistic robotics
Indicative price: € 100
Optional: yes
Language : English
Author : Thrun, S., Burgard, W., & Fox, D.
ISBN : 0-262-20162-3
Number of Pages : 672
Oldest Usable Edition : 2015
Online Available : Yes
Available in the Library : Yes
Available through Student Association : No(Approved)

2

Usability and Lifetime within the Course Unit : one-time
Usability and Lifetime within the Study Programme : one-time
Usability and Lifetime after the Study Programme : occasionallyAdditional information: An inspection copy of the book will be made available as pdf file.
Type: Handbook
Name: Springer handbook of robotics
Indicative price: € 282
Optional: yes
Language : English
Author : Siciliano, B., & Khatib, O.
ISBN : 3-319-32550-7
Number of Pages : 2300
Oldest Usable Edition : 2016
Online Available : No
Available in the Library : Yes
Available through Student Association : No
Usability and Lifetime within the Course Unit : one-time
Usability and Lifetime within the Study Programme : one-time
Usability and Lifetime after the Study Programme : occasionallyAdditional information: A pdf inspection copy will be made available on the course website.
Type: Handbook
Name: Human-robot interaction: An introduction.
Indicative price: € 53
Optional: yes
Language : EnglishAuthor : Bartneck, C., Belpaeme, T., Eyssel, F., Kanda, T., Keijsers, M., & Šabanović, S.
ISBN : 1-108-73540-1
Number of Pages : 252
Oldest Usable Edition : 2020
Online Available : Yes
Available in the Library : Yes
Available through Student Association : No
Usability and Lifetime within the Course Unit : one-time
Usability and Lifetime within the Study Programme : one-time
Usability and Lifetime after the Study Programme : occasionallyAdditional information: A digital copy of the book is available for free at www.human-robot-interaction.org
Type: Slides
Name: Course slides
Indicative price: Free or paid by faculty
Optional: noLanguage : English
Number of Slides : 1000
Available on Ufora : Yes
Online Available : Yes
Available in the Library : No
Available through Student Association : No
Additional information: Slides are updated for each lecture, only use the most recent online versions.
References• G. Dudek and M. Jenkin: Computational Principles of Mobile Robotics, Cambridge University• Press, 2010.
• S. Thrun, W. Burgard and D. Fox: Probabilistic Robotics, The MIT Press, 2006
• T. Bräunl: Embedded Robotics, Springer Verlag• Bartneck, Christoph, Tony Belpaeme, Friederike Eyssel, Takayuki Kanda, Merel Keijsers,• and Selma Šabanović. Human-robot interaction: An introduction. Cambridge University• Press, 2020.
• Review articles from the specialized literature; available on request if necessary.
Course content-related study coaching
Lecturers and teaching assistants are available for additional clarification.
Assessment moments(Approved)

3end-of-term and continuous assessment
Examination methods in case of periodic assessment during the first examination period
Written assessment
Examination methods in case of periodic assessment during the second examination period
Written assessment
Examination methods in case of permanent assessment
Assignment
Possibilities of retake in case of permanent assessment
examination during the second examination period is possible
Extra information on the examination methods
Formative assessment and summative end-of-term evaluation (through a written examinationand project demonstration)
Calculation of the examination markTotal score = 50% exam + 50% project(Approved)

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