UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
College of Computer and Information Sciences

 

     

CMPSCI 603

Robotics

Spring 2022

This class is a comprehensive introduction to the mathematical foundations of robotics. We plan to cover actuation, control, kinematics, dynamics, sensors and signal processing, path planning, and machine learning for motor control.

During the semester, each student will build a control stack, using the "Roger-the-Crab" simulator, to reinforce the material in class. Roger is an 8 DOF mobile manipulator in flatland and we will program/learn hierarchical behavior to provide building blocks for learning a general-purpose grasping behavior.

Course Information

Lecture: Tuesday, Thursday 1:00-2:15

Office Hours (meeting id distributed separately):
     Instructor: Rod Grupen (grupen at cs dot umass dot edu), Office: Monday 1:30-3:30
     TA: Oscar Youngquist (oyoungquist at cs dot umass dot edu), Office: Wednesday, 10:00-12:00
     Grader: Shantam Shorewala (sshorewala at umass dot edu), Office: Friday 10:00-12:00

Grading:

Grading Policy: All project work and homework assignments are to be completed by individual students. Discussion regarding projects is encouraged, however, every student must complete all of the work associated with every project/homework independently.

Assignments require the student to make assumptions and use concepts discussed in class to support conclusions. Source code should not appear in the write up. Instead, whenever possible, the assignment will specify unit tests that you must implement and report that demonstrate correctness.

Late Policy: Homework assignments should be dated and submitted electronically using gradescope on the day they are due. After 11:59PM on the due date, assignments will be considered 1 day late. There will be a 5% penalty for every late day, up to 4 days. After that the submissions will close


Accommodation for Religious Observance:

Special Accommodations: UMass Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have documentation related to physical, psychological, and/or learning challenges on file with Disability Services (DS), Learning Disabilities Support Services (LDSS), or Psychological Disabilities Services (PDS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. Faculty will be informed by the appropriate administrative office(s) on campus of students who require accommodations in their courses.

Title IX Statement: Our goal is to foster a safe, productive learning environment. Title IX and our school policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual assault; or other forms of misconduct at our school. Anyone experiencing sexual misconduct should speak to someone they trust in authority about what happened to get the support they need and so our school can respond appropriately. Please contact the Title IX Coordinator, Debora D. Ferreira at the Equal Opportunity Office (EO), (equalopportunity@admin.umass.edu) 413-545-3464. To talk with someone who is not mandated to report the incident, you can contact the Center for Women and Community (https://www.umass.edu/cwc/) 413-545-0883, or the 24-hour hotline 413-545-0800.

Valuing, Recognizing, and Encouraging Diversity: Diversity includes consideration of life experiences and conditions, including age, economic circumstances, ethnic identification, disability, gender, geographic origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, social position. This class will follow principles of inclusion, respect, collegiality, professionalism, and acceptance that support the values of diversity.

Affirmative Action and Non-Discrimination Policy Statement: UMass Amherst prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, mental or physical disability, political belief or affiliation, pregnancy and pregnancy related condition(s), veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under state or federal law. University policy prohibits racial or sexual harassment and retaliation for filing complaints of discrimination.

Many of the materials created for this course are the intellectual property of the instructor. This includes, but is not limited to, the syllabus, lectures and course notes. Except to the extent not protected by copyright law, any use, distribution or sale of such materials requires the permission of the instructor. Please be aware that it is a violation of university policy to reproduce, for distribution or sale, class lectures or class notes.


grupen "at" cs "dot" umass "dot" edu