Bridging theory and practice in a senior level robotics course for mechanical and electrical engineers

As a diverse discipline, robotics is a synthesis of a variety of subjects such as kinematics, dynamics, controls, mechatronics, mechanical design, artificial intelligence etc. The crossover of multiple areas makes the instruction of robotics courses a challenging task. Traditional robotics courses in mechanical and electrical engineering mainly focus on the analysis and modeling of classical robotic systems such as a two-to-six degrees of freedom robotic manipulator arm or a simple wheeled mobile robot. However, as more and more new branches of robotics are emerging in recent years (nanorobotics, biology-inspired robots and so on), it has become clear that materials covered in traditional robotics courses are not sufficient for students to solve new problems or create new robotic systems. It is therefore imperative that robotics courses be updated, and in many cases, redesigned to account for new branches of robotics that call on students to be competent in the theoretical underpinnings and also have the skills and confidence to apply these to real applications demanded by current practice. This paper first introduces the importance of robotics courses in the curricula of engineering programs, followed by results of a survey that reports on the features of robotics courses in several universities in the United States. The difficulties of designing a robotics course are then addressed. Finally, a suggested structure of a senior level robotics course is proposed.