Engineering the Future: The Revolutionary World of Robotics

As robotics rapidly evolves from research labs to real-world impact, this course examines what defines a robot, focusing on how they intelligently combine perception, cognition, and action, as well as the challenges in creating and controlling them. Throughout the course, technical topics like kinematics, dynamics, control, and planning are covered, alongside real-world applications such as search and rescue robots and medical robotics. The future of robotics is also discussed, including policy considerations like privacy and the potential for commercialization in fields like healthcare and agriculture. Ultimately, this course highlights the complexity of robotics and the ongoing efforts to advance this field.


Learning objectives
Identify the unique attributes of a robot (perception, cognition, actuation).
Discuss some of the technical challenges in robotics (including kinematics, dynamics, control, and planning).
Recognize some of the commercial and policy implications involved in advances in robotics technology.