Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering Information Technology

Robotics and Automation (ELEC 4314)

Lecturer:	A/Prof Thomas Bräunl
Room:	4.15
Fax:	6488-1168
Email:

Semester 2, 6 points

Outcomes
Students gain in-depth technical competence in the following areas: intelligent systems, mobile robots, robot manipulators, vision-guided robotics, and advanced sensor-actuator systems. Programming in the labs for this unit is being performed in C/C++.
Students will acquire generic skills in identifying problems and deriving a specification, creating a system design comprising mechanics, electronics, and software for a problem specification, adapting to new systems or tools, and working with and understanding of technical manuals.
This unit involves laboratory sessions where students work in groups and have the opportunity to work and rotate their roles as team leaders or effective team members. Students are assigned specific sub-tasks and learn about special demands of intelligent systems, mobile robots, and robot manipulators with advanced sensor input. This is a rapidly expanding area which students are encouraged to explore further and keep up with technology trends.

Content
This unit covers mobile robot design—driving robots, walking robots, autonomous planes, underwater robots; manipulators; kinematics and control; localisation; navigation; mapping; vision-guidance and tracking; simulation systems; intelligent control—fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms; industrial automation and application areas; production lines; process automation and planning.

Additional tutorials are offered for students without prior knowledge of C/C++ programming.

Assessment
The outcome of in-depth technical competence is assessed via a written examination. The outcome of student group work is assessed in assignments and laboratory reports. Individual student skills are assessed via a written report on a robotics project.

Contact Hours

Type	Hours	Start	Note
Lectures	26 hrs	week 1
Tutorials	12 hrs	week 2
Labs	30 hrs	week 3	weekly labs, 3h each

For days, time and venues, see: www.timetable.uwa.edu.au

Tutorial and Lab assignments are available on the web.
Students should work in groups of two, so please find a partner from the same lab group.

Unit Co-ordinator:           Associate Professor Thomas Bräunl
Tutors / Lab Supervisors: James Ng, Chang Su Lee

Textbooks:         Bräunl: Embedded Robotics, 2nd Ed., Springer 2006

Course Notes:         see link
Tutorials:                 see link
Lab Assignments:    see link
Previous Exams:      see link
Supplem. Material : see link

Marks (Cont. Asses.) :  see link

More Photos:                          see link

Assessment

Type	Mark	Comments
Individual lab sessions (4w) Group project 1 (2w) Group project 2 (4w)	16% 8% 16%	Each individual lab is worth 4%. Groups of two students, no report. Groups of max. 5 students (12% project + 4% individual report).
Final examination	60%	Open book exam

Penalties
Each lab is due at the end of the scheduled session, no late submissions will be accepted.
Assignments and reports will receive a 20% penalty for each day late.

Plagiarism
All work submitted must be the student's (or group's, resp.) own work.
Citations must be clearly marked as such.
See the faculty policy on plagiarism. 

Sacling
See the faculty policy for scaling marks.

Appeals
See the faculty policy for appeals.