ME115 2016
From Robotics
This is the homepage for ME 115(a,b) (Introduction to Kinematic and Robotics) for Winter/Spring 2016.
Course Staff, Hours, Location
| Position | Name | Office | Office Hours (changing weekly) | Phone | |
| Instructor | Joel Burdick | 245 Gates-Thomas | send mail for an appointment | jwb at robotics dot caltech dot edu | 626-395-4139 |
| Teach Asst. | Nikola Georgiev | 205 Gates-Thomas | Thurs. Apr, 7, SFL Group Study Room 229 (#2-3) 8 pm | georgiev at caltech dot edu | 626-395-???? |
| Teach Asst. | Yoke Peng Leong | Annenberg | TBD | ypleong at caltech dot edu | 626-395-???? |
| Administrative | Sonya Lincoln | 250 Gates-Thomas | 7:30am-noon; 1:00pm-4:30pm | lincolns at caltech dot edu | 626-395-3385 |
- Lecture Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00-11:00 am, Gates-Thomas 135
Announcements For ME 115(b)
- 06/01/16: The Final Exam is available here . The instructions are included on the first page. To complete the exam, you will have to download and watch the following videos:
- The Spider Mechanism Video (in mp4 format).
- The Rostock Video (in mp4 format).
- 05/14/16: The first video lecture can be downloaded from here in .mov format
- 05/14/16: The second video lecture can be downloaded here in .mp4 format
- 05/04/16: The Final Project Guidelines
- 04/06/16: The T.A. office hours will be Thurs, 8:00 pm onward, in Room 229 (#2-#3) of Sherman-Fairchild Library
Course Text and References
The main course text is:
- R.M. Murray, Z. Li, and S. Sastry, A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation, CR Press, 1994.
- The 1st edition of this book is available freely on-line at the link above, and is perfectly adequate for the course
We will refer to this text as MLS (the initials of the authors last names). While the course topics will follow the text subjects, additional material not in the text will often be presented in class. Additional course handouts covering this material will be posted on this website
Course Syllabus
Theoretical Kinematics is the study of motion and the analytical tools to represent motion, while Applied Kinematics is the analysis and synthesis of mechanisms which implement given motions. This course presents a basic overview of theoretical kinematics, while the applied portions focus on robotic mechanisms.
An overview of the course, including course mechanics, grading, etc. The most salient information is repeated below.
Grading
The final grade will be based on homework sets, and a final exam or final project:
- Homework (70%): Homework sets will be handed out every 7-10 days, and are due at 5 pm on the due date (which will always coincide with a class meeting). Homeworks can be dropped off in class, or deposited in the box outside of 245 Gates-Thomas. Some homeworks will require computation. MATLAB or Mathematica should be sufficient to solve every homework posed in this course, though students can choose their favorite programming language. Code is considered part of your solution and should be included in with the problem set when appropriate.
- Final exam/project (30%): Students have the option to take a final exam (a limited time take-home format exam which is open book, open note, and computer allowed) or select a final project. The final project must incorporate some aspect of the course, and the topic and scope my be approved by the course instructor. The final exam will due at 5:00 pm the last day of finals. The final project is similarly due at 5:00 pm on the last day of finals.
- Late Homework Policy: Students may automatically take a 2-day extension on two homeworks during each quarter.
Collaboration Policy
Collaboration on homework assignments is encouraged. You may consult outside reference materials, other students, the TA, or the instructor, but you must cite any use of material from outside references. All solutions that are handed in should be written up individually and should reflect your own understanding of the subject matter. Computer code and graphical plots are considered part of your solution, and therefore should be done individually (you can share ideas, but not code). No collaboration is allowed on the examinations.
Course Schedule for ME115(b)
| Week | Date | Topic | Reading | Optional Reading | Homework |
| 1 |
From Manipulator Singularities to Closed Loop Mechanisms | ||||
| 28 March (M) | Manipulator Singularities (concluded) Intro to Closed Loop Mechanisms |
-N/A- | -N/A- | Homework 1 Solution 1 | |
| 30 March (W) | Closed Loop Linkages: Structure Equations & Mobility | Murray, Li Sastry (MLS), Section 3.4 | -N/A- | ||
| 1 April (F) | Closed Loop Linkages: Special Configurations | Murray, Li Sastry (MLS), Section 3.4 | -N/A- | ||
| 2 |
Closed Loop Mechanisms and Parallel Mechanisms | ||||
| 4 April (M) | Closed Loop Linkages: Multi-Loop Linkages | MLS, Section 3.5 | -N/A- | -No Homework- | |
| 6 April (W) | Intro to Parallel Linkages | -N/A- | -N/A- | ||
| 8 April (F) | Parallel Mechanisms: structure Equations and Singularities | MLS Section 3.5 | |||
| 3 |
Parallel Mechanisms to Redundant manipulators | ||||
| 11 April (M) | The Delta Mechanism | Paper on Delta Kinematics | History of Delta Mechanism; Singularities of Delta Mechanisms; | Homework 2 Solution #2 | |
| 13 April (W) | Redundant Mechanisms and PseudoInverse | -N/A- | |||
| 15 April (F) | Redundancy resolution and trajectory planning | Notes on the Moore-Penrose Pseudo Inverse | -N/A- | ||
| 4 |
From Redundant Manipulators to Grasping | ||||
| 18 April (M) | The Moore-Penrose Pseudo Inverse and SVD | MLS Chapt 3, Section 5.1 | |||
| 20 April (W) | Redundancy Resolution and Obstacle Avoidance Example Intro to Grasping |
MLS Chapt 3, Section 5.1 | Maciejewski & Klein | ||
| 22 April (F) | Contact Models | Section 5.2 of the MLS Text | -N/A- | ||
| 5 |
Force Closure Grasps | ||||
| 25 April (M) | Finger Contact Models | Section 2.1 of MLS Chapter5 | -N/A- | Homework 3 Solution 3 | |
| 27 April (W) | The Grasp Map Secure Multi-Fingered Grasps |
Section 2.2 of MLS Chapter 5 | N/A- | ||
| 29 April (F) | Force Closure (continued) | Section 5.3, 5.4 of the MLS Text | -N/A- | ||
| 6 |
Force Closure Grasps | ||||
| 2 May (M) | Frictionless Force Closure | -N/A- | -N/A- | Homework 4; Solution 4 | |
| 4 May (W) | Force Closure and Internal Forces | -N/A- | -N/A- | ||
| 6 May (F) | Number of required fingers | Section 5.4 of the MLS Text | -N/A- | ||
| 7 |
Yet more Robotic Grasping | ||||
| 9 May (M) | Number of fingers needed to grasp an object | Section 5.4 of MLS Text | -N/A- | Homework 5; Solution 5 | |
| 11 May (W) | Grasp Planning/Hand Kinematics | Section 5.5 of MLS Text | -N/A- | ||
| 13 May (F) | Hand Kinematics | Section 5.5 of the MLS Text | -N/A- | ||
| 8 |
Yet more Robotic Grasping | ||||
| 16 May (M) | Differential Geometry of Curves | Section 5.6 of MLS text Notes on the Differential Geometry of Curves |
-N/A- | Homework #6 | |
| 18 May (W) | Planar Contact Equations | Section 5.6 of MLS Text Notes on the Planar Contact Equations |
-N/A- | ||
| 20 May (F) | No Class due to travel | -N/A- | -N/A- | ||
| 9 |
Miscellaneous | ||||
| 23 May (M) | Review of planar contact equations Grasp Equations with non-point fingers |
Chapter 5 of MLS | |||
| 25 May (W) | Gears,Quasistatic Locomotion | Slides on Gears | -N/A- | ||
| 27 May (F) | No Class (travel) | -N/A- | -N/A- | ||
| 10 |
Miscellaneous | ||||
| 30 May (M) | Institute Holiday | ||||
| 1 June (W) | Quasistatic Locomotion and Whole Body Manipulation | Slides on Whole Body Manipulation | -N/A- | ||
Course Schedule for ME115(a)
| Week | Date | Topic | Reading | Optional Reading | Homework |
| 1 |
Introduction and Review of Rigid Body Kinematics | ||||
| 4 Jan (Mon.) | Class Overview | Course Overview, Chapter 1 of MLS |
History of Kinematics Through 1900 (Introductory chapter from Kinematic Synthesis of Linkages) | -No Homework- | |
| 6 Jan (W) | Planar Rigid Body Kinematics, Planar displacements |
MLS Ch 2.1, Pages 19-23 | -N/A- | ||
| 8 Jan (F) | Planar Rigid Body Displacements (continued), Displacement groups |
MLS Ch 2.1, | -N/A- | ||
| 2 |
From Planar Rigid Body Kinematics to Spherical Kinematics | ||||
| 11 Jan (M) | Displacement groups, poles Planar Displacements (PowerPoint) |
-N/A- | Homework 1, Solution 1 | ||
| 13 Jan (W) | Centrodes: Ellliptical Trammel, Trammel, V 1, V 2, compliation Intro to Spherical Kinematics |
MLS Pages 22-26, Notes on the Elliptical Trammel, |
Archemides Trammel (Wikipedia) Polyhedral Linkages Synthesized Using Cardan Motion Along Radial Lines |
||
| 15 Jan (F) | Spherical Kinematics (continued), Classical Matrix Groups |
MLS Ch 2.2, 2.3, Notes on the Classical Matrix Groups |
-N/A- | ||
| 3 |
Spherical Kinematics | ||||
| 18 Jan (M) | No Class: Marin Luther King Holiday | -N/A- | -N/A- | No Homework | |
| 20 Jan (W) | Cayley's Theorem, |
MLS 27-31, Notes on Rotations |
-N/A- | ||
| 22 Jan (F) | No Class | MLS 31-34 | -N/A- | ||
| 4 |
Spherical Kinematics (continued) | ||||
| 25 Jan (M) | Angle/Axis Representation and Rodriguez Formula | MLS 34-39 | Notes on Algebras | -N/A- | |
| 27 Jan (W) | No Class | -N/A- | -N/A- | ||
| 29 Jan (W) | No Class | -N/A- | -N/A- | ||
| 5 |
Spatial Kinematics | ||||
| 1 Feb (M) | No Class | -N/A- | -N/A- | Homework 2, Solution 2 | |
| 3 Feb (W) | Exponential Coordinates and Euler Angles | MLS Ch 2.2, 2.3 | -N/A- | ||
| 5 Feb (F) | Quaternions | MLS Pages 51-52 | -N/A- | ||
| 6 |
Spatial Kinematics (continued) | ||||
| 8 Feb (M) | Quaternions (continued), Intro to Spatial Kinematics |
MLS 34-39 | Notes on Algebras | Homework 3, Solution 3 | |
| 8 Feb (M) | Spatial Displacments, Chasle's Theorem, Exponential Coordinates |
MLS Pages 35-50 | -N/A- | ||
| 10 Feb (W) | Motion Capture Rigid Body Velocities |
MLS Pages 51-61; Rodriguez' Displacement Equation; | -N/A- | ||
| 12 Feb (F) | No Class | -N/A- | -N/A-
| ||
| 7 |
Spatial Kinematics: Velocities and Wrenches | ||||
| 15 Feb (M) | No Class: President's Day Holiday | MLS Ch 2.3; | -N/A- | Homework 4, Solution 4 | |
| 17 Feb (W) | Rigid Body Velocities (continued) | MLS Ch 2.3 | -N/A- | ||
| 19 Feb(F) | Transformation of Velocities Wrenches and Poinsot's Theorem |
MLS Ch 2.4-2.5 | -N/A- | ||
| 8 |
Robot Manipulators | ||||
| 22 Feb (M) | Wrenches (continued), Screw Theory |
-N/A- | -N/A- | No Homework | |
| 22 Feb (M) | Robot Manipulators: Introduction | MLS Chapter 3, pages 81-94 | -N/A- | ||
| 23 Feb (W) | Denavit Hartenberg Convention | MLS Chapter 3, pages 81-94 | -N/A- | ||
| 25 Feb(F) | Forward Kinematics via the Denavit-Hartenberg Convention | MLS Ch 3, | DH-Parameters (from Wikipedia), Scan from Craig Book on D-H Parameters | ||
| 9 |
Forward/Inverse Kinematics | ||||
| 29 Feb (M) | Denavit-Hartenberg Convention (continued), Examples | MLS Ch 3; Rodriguez' Displacement Equation; | -N/A- | Homework 5, Solution 5 | |
| 2 Mar (W) | Product of Exponentials Formula | MLS Ch 3 | -N/A- | ||
| 4 Mar(F) | Inverse Kinematics | MLS Ch 3 | -N/A- | ||
| 10 |
Jacobian Matrix and Singularities | ||||
| 7 Mar (M) | Manipulator Jacobian Matrices | MLS Ch 3, pages 115-120; | -N/A- | Optional Homework 6 | |
| 7 Mar (M) | Jacobian Matrix (continued), End-effector forces | MLS Ch 3, 121-123; | -N/A- | ||
| 9 Mar (W) | Manipulator Singularities | MLS Ch 3, pp 123-127 | -N/A- | ||
Announcements For ME 115(a)
- 03/21/16: Here is the Final Exam Solution
- 03/13/16: Here is the Final Exam. The exam instructions are located on the first page. Good luck!
- 02/22/16: Here are the Final Project Guidelines
- 02/19/16: Homework #2 is graded. You can pick it up from Sonya Lincoln, or pick it up in class starting Monday Feb. 22
- 02/17/16: T.A. Office hours this week:
- Wed. Feb. 17, SFL Group Study room 220 (#2-2), 4-5:00 pm
- Thurs. Feb. 18, SFL Group Study Room 220 (#2-2) 6-7:00 pm
- 02/08/16: T.A. Office hours this week:
- Mon. Feb. 8, SFL Group Study room 220 (#2-2), 4-5:00 pm
- Tues. Feb. 9, SFL Group Study Room 220 (#2-2) 8-9:00 pm
- 02/05/16: We need an extra class per week to catch up with the missed classes. The same lecture will be given twice on Mondays. You need attend only one of the following lectures.
- 11:00am-noon in 135 Gates-Thomas
- 7:30-8:30 pm in 135 Gates-Thomas
- 02/01/16: Class WILL be held on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 at the usual time and location
- 02/01/16: There will be NO class on Monday, Feb. 1, 2016.
- 01/15/16: Office hours for Homework 1
- Nikola Georgiev will hold office hours on Monday January 18 and Tuesday, January 19 from 8-9 pm in the Sherman Fairchild Library Group Study Room 229 (#2-3).
- Joel Burdick will hold an office hours from 3-4 pm and 4:30-5:30 pm on Tuesday Jan. 19 in Gates-Thomas 245
- 01/14/16: On Wed. February 17, 2016 class will take place in Gates-Thomas 115 (just for that one lecture).
- 01/11/16: Homework #1 will be available during the evening of Mon., Jan. 11. Due Wed. Jan 20.
- 01/09/16: The class time is tentative set (see lecture schedule above)
- 01/04/16: The class time (and probably location) will be changed in order to allow the maximum number of students to participate. Look for updates.
