- Level Professional
- Duration 24 hours
- Course by Northwestern University
-
Offered by
About
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 1 of the specialization, Foundations of Robot Motion, you will learn fundamental material regarding robot configurations, for both serial robot mechanisms and robots with closed chains. You will learn about configuration space (C-space), degrees of freedom, C-space topology, implicit and explicit representations of configurations, and holonomic and nonholonomic constraints. You will also learn how to represent spatial velocities and forces as twists and wrenches. This material is at the core of the study of anything that moves (e.g., robots). 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.Modules
Welcome!
1
Discussions
- CoppeliaSim Tips
2
Videos
- Welcome and Acknowledgments
- Introduction to the Lightboard
5
Readings
- Welcome to the Specialization!
- Modern Robotics (MR) Code Library and Your Programming Language
- CoppeliaSim Robot Simulator
- How to Make This Course Successful
- (Optional) Chapter 1
Chapter 2 through 2.2
3
Assignment
- Lecture Comprehension, Degrees of Freedom of a Rigid Body (Chapter 2 through 2.1)
- Lecture Comprehension, Degrees of Freedom of a Robot (Chapter 2.2)
- Chapter 2 through 2.2, Configuration Space
1
Discussions
- Degrees of Freedom of the Human Arm
3
Videos
- Foundations of Robot Motion
- Degrees of Freedom of a Rigid Body (Chapter 2 through 2.1)
- Degrees of Freedom of a Robot (Chapter 2.2)
2
Readings
- Welcome to Course 1, Foundations of Robot Motion
- Chapter 2 through 2.2
Chapters 2.3-2.5
5
Assignment
- Lecture Comprehension, Configuration Space Topology (Chapter 2.3.1)
- Lecture Comprehension, Configuration Space Representation (Chapter 2.3.2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Configuration and Velocity Constraints (Chapter 2.4)
- Lecture Comprehension, Task Space and Workspace (Chapter 2.5)
- Chapter 2.3 through 2.5, Configuration Space
1
Discussions
- Topological Equivalence
4
Videos
- Configuration Space Topology (Chapter 2.3.1)
- Configuration Space Representation (Chapter 2.3.2)
- Configuration and Velocity Constraints (Chapter 2.4)
- Task Space and Workspace (Chapter 2.5)
1
Readings
- Chapters 2.3-2.5
Chapter 3 through 3.2
7
Assignment
- Lecture Comprehension, Introduction to Rigid-Body Motions (Chapter 3 through 3.1)
- Lecture Comprehension, Rotation Matrices (Chapter 3.2.1, Part 1 of 2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Rotation Matrices (Chapter 3.2.1, Part 2 of 2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Angular Velocities (Chapter 3.2.2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Exponential Coordinates of Rotation (Chapter 3.2.3, Part 1 of 2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Exponential Coordinates of Rotation (Chapter 3.2.3, Part 2 of 2)
- Chapter 3 through 3.2, Rigid-Body Motions
1
Discussions
- Other Representations of Orientation
6
Videos
- Introduction to Rigid-Body Motions (Chapter 3 through 3.1)
- Rotation Matrices (Chapter 3.2.1, Part 1 of 2)
- Rotation Matrices (Chapter 3.2.1, Part 2 of 2)
- Angular Velocities (Chapter 3.2.2)
- Exponential Coordinates of Rotation (Chapter 3.2.3, Part 1 of 2)
- Exponential Coordinates of Rotation (Chapter 3.2.3, Part 2 of 2)
1
Readings
- Chapter 3 through 3.2
Chapters 3.3 and 3.4
6
Assignment
- Lecture Comprehension, Homogeneous Transformation Matrices (Chapter 3 through 3.3.1)
- Lecture Comprehension, Twists (Chapter 3.3.2, Part 1 of 2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Twists (Chapter 3.3.2, Part 2 of 2)
- Lecture Comprehension, Exponential Coordinates of Rigid-Body Motion (Chapter 3.3.3)
- Lecture Comprehension, Wrenches (Chapter 3.4)
- Chapters 3.3 and 3.4, Rigid-Body Motions
1
Peer Review
- Modern Robotics Course 1 (Foundations of Robot Motion) Project
1
Discussions
- Screws, Twists, and Exponential Coordinates, Oh My!
5
Videos
- Homogeneous Transformation Matrices (Chapter 3.3 through 3.3.1)
- Twists (Chapter 3.3.2, Part 1 of 2)
- Twists (Chapter 3.3.2, Part 2 of 2)
- Exponential Coordinates of Rigid-Body Motion (Chapter 3.3.3)
- Wrenches (Chapter 3.4)
1
Readings
- Chapters 3.3 and 3.4

Instructor
Kevin Lynch