Course syllabus

ISE 360- Introduction to Robotics

Section 001, TR, 5:00 PM-6:15 PM, In-Person

Congdon Hall 1006

Course Syllabus - Spring 2025

"This syllabus is subject to change, but only with sufficient notification"

 

 

Welcome to Dr. Saeidi’s Robotics class! This course is focused on image-guided control of robotic manipulators. It includes mathematical modeling concepts as well as implementation via open-source software libraries, robotic manipulators, and RGB cameras. During this course, students will learn to analyze complex 3D motions of a robotic system and integrate them into a closed-loop vision-based control strategy via different programming tools.

The students who successfully complete this course will:

• Demonstrate skills in describing, understanding, and analyzing complex dynamic systems. 
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the inputs/processes/outputs of robotic systems and implement them via different programming languages and tools.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how to utilize open-source modeling and control software to analyze and control the motion of a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic system.
• Develop and use algorithms for real-time target detection and position estimation using computer vision techniques.
• Demonstrate the ability to implement the developed programs on a real-world system.
• Demonstrate the ability to write scientific reports on the results and present the work professionally.

 

What else do I need to know about this course? Prerequisites: A level of programming experience similar to ISE 211 and fundamental skills in autonomous control systems similar to ISE 333 are required. This is a difficult and time-consuming course. Plan carefully to complete assignments and projects in a timely manner. I will cover the required tools as needed, but eventually, you will be responsible for filling any gaps in knowledge you may have while taking this course.  Make sure you have pens/pencils/notebooks during the class. You will need to take notes regularly, and we will have paper-based submissions for some in-class activities and quizzes.

 

What do I do when I need help? If you need help, talk to me or shoot me an email. I will do all I can to help you understand the materials. How to contact Dr. Saeidi? E-mail: saeidih@uncw.edu Office hours: Mondays, 2 pm-3 pm and Thursdays 3:45 p.m.- 4:45 p.m. (by appointment only). Office: 2038 Congdon Hall Phone: (910) 962-2094 You can email me at any time but I only respond to emails from 8 am to 5 pm. All the emails regarding ISE360 must be in the following format otherwise, I might not open them in time:   ISE360 – proper title   For example "ISE360 – Project/Lab 2"

 

Textbooks (Optional)

• Corke P, Robotics, Vision and Control, Fundamental Algorithms in Python (3rd Edition), Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics; 2023. (robotics-vision-and-control-fundamental-algorithms-in-python-3rd-edition.pdf)
• Spong MW, Hutchinson S, Vidyasagar M. Robot modeling and control (2nd Edition). John Wiley & Sons; 2020. (older version: Robot-Modeling-and-Control-Spong.pdf )

 

Other Resources (More resources will be posted in different modules as well)

• http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials
• https://docs.docker.com/get-started/
• https://docs.github.com/en/get-started
• https://www.cplusplus.com/
• https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html 
• https://www.orocos.org/kdl.html
• https://docs.opencv.org/4.x/d6/d00/tutorial_py_root.html
• https://pointclouds.org/documentation
• The search engine of your choice
• ...

 

Grading

A modified 10-point scale will be used to compute your course grade. Pluses and minuses will be assigned based on the following chart.

Exams: 

Exam 1 (25%):          Thursday, 2/20/2025

Exam 2 (15%):          Tuesday, 4/15/2025

These exams will be in-person and paper-based and focused on fundamental theories. There will be NO make-up exams.  All exams are closed book. 

Assignments:

There will be 6-7 paper-based and computer-based assignments. These assignments must be completed and submitted individually (no collaborations allowed).

 

Projects:

One project is embedded in the course, which requires group work. To facilitate the development and test steps, this project is done in two phases:

- Phase 1: Robot modeling and control.

- Phase 2: Robot vision and system integration.

 

Reports and presentations/demos: A report and a presentation are expected for the project (a technical report + an in-class presentation). You will form teams to complete the projects, write the reports, and present your work to the class. Each team will consist of 2 students. For the final presentations, each team will have 10 minutes to present the results, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session.  Your work must be submitted before the first day of presentations for each project.

The team member list is due on 2/18/25. Once the teams form, they will remain unchanged throughout the semester. Be careful when selecting teammates so that effective collaboration is achieved.

Late submission policy for the assignments, reports, and presentations:

• Prompt notification  (for good reason, documented illness, etc.) is required. Late submissions will not be accepted if not communicated with the instructor before the deadline (results in a 0 grade).
• Otherwise, 5% penalty per day.
• After 5 days,  it will result in a 0 grade for the specific assignment/lab/report/presentation. 

 

Attendance: 

Regular attendance is expected. This course proceeds at such a pace that class absence can have an impact on student performance and final grades. Each student is responsible for all the work, including tests and written work, in all class sessions.

 There will be extensive in-class activities and some questions and problems in the exams will be from the lecture notes. Unavoidable schedule changes may be announced in class and class participation and in-class activities may impact final grade determination in some cases. 

Students must wait 15 minutes if the professor is late for class.

Anticipated Absences. Anticipated absences should be reported to the instructor at least seven days before the absence is scheduled to occur. Situations in which an instructor is encouraged to approve a documented anticipated absence include:

• Attendance at university-sponsored activities in which the student is representing UNCW, e.g., a professional meeting in which the student presents his or her research, required varsity athletic events for team members, or required events for SGA officers. Instructors may require certification of the student’s participation from the administrator in charge of the activity. Absences for university-affiliated, but not directly sponsored, activities (such as a club or Greek life events) do not qualify under this policy.
• Required court attendance as certified by the Clerk of Court.
• Required military duty as certified by the student’s commanding officer.

Unanticipated Absences. Students are encouraged to communicate with instructors in a timely fashion after unanticipated absences from class. Each faculty member determines how to treat such absences but typically will excuse absences due to health emergencies, death in the family, or a comparable emergency when supported by verifying documentation from the student. 

Two missed submissions or three unexcused absences will result in an F grade in the class.

 

 

Academic Integrity

Use of any AI code generators is not allowed. Violators will be reported. See here for more details

https://uncw.edu/about/university-administration/student-affairs/departments/dean-students/honor-codeLinks to an external site.

University Policy on academic integrity will be followed for this course. Cheating will be taken very seriously, resulting in harsh penalties. Since the skills required in this class are also required in the next class, cheating in this class will seriously hamper your ability to pass the next class. Please refer to this page for more information about the University policies. 

Any dissemination of class notes, lecture slides, recordings, handouts, copies of exams, or any other course materials without permission of the instructor is prohibited by UNCW policy.  UNCW Copyright Use and Ownership Policy (http://www.uncw.edu/policies/documents/01210.copyrightpolicy.pdf) specifies that class notes and related materials are considered derivative of the original intellectual property of the course instructor. Therefore, the instructor (not the student) owns the copyright and must provide specific permission to distribute and/or reuse those materials for anything other than personal use and scholarship by the student. Commercial use, display, or dissemination of such notes, copies, or recordings—as well as posting to websites--will generally constitute an infringement of copyright and the Honor Code.  Materials that qualify as student-owned are listed in the policy.

Health and Safety Protocols:

Please do not come to class when you are not feeling well or are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms. Inform the instructor so that proper measures can be taken for you to keep up with the class pace. If you have been exposed to COVID-19 or are concerned about exposure, please contact the Student Health Center at (910) 962-3280 for specific information about testing, contact tracing and quarantine/isolation requirements, which differ for vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals, according to CDC guidance. Remember, keeping healthy is essential to keeping campus open! Thank you for your help and compliance.