Project - Each student will choose and explore some form of manipulation as a project. Students may work alone or in groups (if you choose to work in a group, you must be able to demonstrate your contributions in all three phases described below). Back issues of Scientific American and the American Journal of Physics often contain articles on interesting manipulation problems. You can also consult the International Journal of Robotics Research, the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, and robotics conferences to find interesting problems. Some possible projects topics are throwing a boomerang, designing a trebuchet, snapping one's fingers, juggling, grasping, dexterous manipulation, and humanoid robots. Project scope is very flexible. It can range from a report surveying the literature on the chosen topic to analyzing and building a working boomerang. Project presentations (time permitting) will occur during the last week of class. Click here for other project ideas.
The project report will be done in three stages: proposal, draft, and final.
- Proposal: demonstrate that the student has chosen a project, thought about how to demonstrate it, and searched the literature briefly to see what is already known about the project topic. The proposal will contain a brief summary of what has been done and a plan for implementation of the project. I expect about 6 pages of single spaced (not counting citations), 12 point font (my eyes don't like 10 point), plus a list of about 5 citations. ONLY LIST THE CITATIONS THAT YOU HAVE READ AND MENTION IN THE PROPOSAL. I expect more citations to appear in your draft and final reports.
- Draft: demonstrate sufficient progress such that the project proposed will be completed on time. I expect about 12 pages text (not counting citations) and about 12 papers cited. The cited papers should be discussed thoroughly to make it clear that you understand them in detail and in relation to your project. I will give you feedback as to what you should do to complete your project.
- Final: demonstrate completion of the project according to your plans and my feedback. Demo your project if you built a device or software for this purpose. I expect about 15 pages and 15 citations.
Exercises - All homework assignments will be taken from Mason's text unless otherwise noted. Since this is the first offering of this course, the assignments will be determined as the semester progresses.
Due by midnight on the due date:
Assignment | Due Date | Value | Max | Ave | Min
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mtm PS1 - Exercises: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6 | 1/29 | 8.3% | 98 | 76 | 41
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mtm PS2 - Exercises: 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, unicycle with trailer, 3.16 | 2/19 | 8.3% | 100 | 78 | 47
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mtm PS3 - Exercises: 3.17, 3.18, 4.1, 4.3 | 3/05 | 8.3% | 100 | 77 | 0
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Exercises: 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 6.3 | 4/24 | 8.4%
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Project proposal | 3/16 | 10.0% | 100 | 91 | 71
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Project report draft | 4/6 | 10.0%
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Final project report | 4/28 | 13.3%
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Final exam | 5/3-5/7 | 33.4%
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