Egr100
Fall 1999
Ileana Streinu
Doreen Weinberger

• First 4 weeks
  • Lectures: technical content
    • Introduction to Robotics
    • Mechanics (motors, wheels, gears, etc.)
    • Sensors
    • Programming
  • Labs: build increasingly difficult robots using Lego Mindstorms.
  • End of 4th week: first project presentation. During lab (Th), 15 min + 5 min questions per team. Videotaped. Discussion with each team, feedback from the "review panel" and professors.
• Weeks 5-end.
  • Lecture time period:
    • 1/2 time or more, general Engineering topics: ethics, patents, library/web searches, writing a proposal, doing a presentation.
    • 1/2 time or less: technical lectures, more advanced topics on robotics (may be supported by videos) or support topics (how to make a web page, create images and QuickTime movies to insert in the final presentation).
    • A few field trips.
    • A few invited talks (Mars Rover, Failure).
  • Lab:
    • Advanced robotics projects using the Handyboard.
    • Soldering, more sensors (including sonar), programming in C, etc.
    • Preliminary progress presentation, mid November.
    • In-house Final presentation, last lab, Th Dec 9.
    • Final presentation, with outside review panel (if different projects); OR: contest (if all do the same project). last day of classes (Tu, Dec. 14).

• Each student makes a project proposal. Each presentation takes the proposal one step further and goals are adjusted. No two projects alike, open-ended.
• Choose a topic (e.g. Fire-fighting robot). Each team implements the same type of robot, and there is a contest in the end. Each presentation reviews and readjusts the goals (e.g.: touch or do not touch the walls of the maze? how to blow up the candle; "free" navigation, or following a "black line" on the floor? human help?).