About this course: Do you want to know how robots work? Are you interested in robotics as a career? Are you willing to invest the effort to learn fundamental mathematical modeling techniques that are used in all subfields of robotics? If so, then the "Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control" specialization may be for you. This specialization, consisting of six short courses, is serious preparation for serious students who hope to work in the field of robotics or to undertake advanced study. It is not a sampler. In Course 2 of the specialization, Robot Kinematics, you will learn to solve the forward kinematics (calculating the configuration of the "hand" of the robot based on the joint values) using the product-of-exponentials formula. Your efforts in Course 1 pay off handsomely, as forward kinematics is a breeze with the tools you've learned. This is followed by velocity kinematics and statics relating joint velocities and forces/torques to end-effector twists and wrenches, inverse kinematics (calculating joint values that achieve a desired "hand" configuration), and kinematics of robots with closed chains. This course follows the textbook "Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control" (Lynch and Park, Cambridge University Press 2017). You can purchase the book or use the free preprint pdf. You will build on a library of robotics software in the language of your choice (among Python, Mathematica, and MATLAB) and use the free cross-platform robot simulator V-REP, which allows you to work with state-of-the-art robots in the comfort of your own home and with zero financial investment.
Who is this class for: This course is designed for students who have taken typical first-year college courses in engineering, such as physics (e.g., f = ma with vector forces and torques), linear algebra (matrix operations, positive definiteness, determinants, eigenvalues and eigenvectors), calculus (derivatives and partial derivatives), a basic intro to differential equations (i.e., dx/dt = a*x), and a little bit of programming experience. Students are expected to be able to read and write simple programs in Python, Mathematica, or MATLAB. Students should also have taken the first course of the Modern Robotics specialization.
Taught by: Kevin Lynch, Professor
Mechanical Engineering
| Basic Info | Course 2 of 6 in the Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control Specialization |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Commitment | This course requires 4 weeks of study of approximately 3-5 hours/week. |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Reading: Welcome to Course 2, Robot Kinematics
- Reading: Chapter 4, Forward Kinematics
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Product of Exponentials Formula in the Space Frame (Chapter 4 through 4.1.2)
- Video: Product of Exponentials Formula in the End-Effector Frame (Chapter 4.1.3)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Product of Exponentials Formula in the End-Effector Frame (Chapter 4.1.3)
- Video: Forward Kinematics Example
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Forward Kinematics Example
- Discussion Prompt: Screw Axis Identification
- Reading: Chapter 5, Velocity Kinematics and Statics
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Velocity Kinematics and Statics (Chapter 5 Introduction)
- Video: Space Jacobian (Chapter 5.1 through 5.1.1)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Space Jacobian (Chapter 5.1 through 5.1.1)
- Video: Body Jacobian (Chapter 5.1.2 through 5.1.4)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Body Jacobian (Chapter 5.1.2 through 5.1.4)
- Discussion Prompt: Columns of the Jacobian Matrix
- Video: Statics of Open Chains (Chapter 5.2)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Statics of Open Chains (Chapter 5.2)
- Video: Singularities (Chapter 5.3)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Singularities (Chapter 5.3)
- Video: Manipulability (Chapter 5.4)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Manipulability (Chapter 5.4)
- Reading: Chapter 6, Inverse Kinematics
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Inverse Kinematics of Open Chains (Chapter 6 Introduction)
- Video: Numerical Inverse Kinematics (Chapter 6.2, Part 1 of 2)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Numerical Inverse Kinematics (Chapter 6.2, Part 1 of 2)
- Video: Numerical Inverse Kinematics (Chapter 6.2, Part 2 of 2)
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Numerical Inverse Kinematics (Chapter 6.2, Part 2 of 2)
- Discussion Prompt: Practical Issues with Numerical Inverse Kinematics
- Reading: Chapter 7, Kinematics of Closed Chains
- Practice Quiz: Lecture Comprehension, Kinematics of Closed Chains (Chapter 7)
- Discussion Prompt: Common Closed Chains
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| Access to course materials | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Available |
As I am looking forward to be expertise in the field of Modern Robotics (Robotic Manipulators), this course sets the perfect platform for the same. After going through this course, I have learned the very crucial part - Robot Kinematics. The way video lectures are made are always engulfing. But, in this course, the peer graded assignment posed some real challenge and gave real time experience of how robotic manipulators/mobile robots perform.
The course is really interesting and the instruction is really good. Thanks for professor Lynch.One advice: since the closed chain is important, I wish that these knowledge and examples could be given more, thanks!
Very nice and compact explanation. Love the teaching style! You have to read the book to really grasp the material, if you're planning on taking this course, you have to take it seriously. It's pretty though.