University of California, Santa Barbara
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Robot Locomotion

ECE 594D - Winter 2010

Instructor: Prof. Katie Byl
(katiebyl@ece.ucsb.edu)

Course Description: Locomotion is a fundamental requirement for many robot applications, but locomotion in real-world environments – for both animals and machines – is typically both underactuated and subject to significant stochasticity, presenting some important challenges in the design and control of agile, autonomous robots. Although the efficiency and agility of animals provide fantastic inspiration, our own man-made machines often lag far behind in capability. This course investigates recent work in the areas of nonlinear dynamics and control of robots that walk, run, fly and swim. Topics include: metrics for stability, modeling techniques, limit cycle analysis, control methods for underactuated systems, motion planning, learning algorithms, bio-inspired design and fundamental design trade-offs among passive stability, agility and efficiency.

Prerequisites: An undergraduate-level background in both System Dynamics and Controls.

Office Hours: Tuesday 10am-noon (and/or by appointment), in 5115 HFH.

Required Text/Readings: There is no text for this course. Instead, we will read, analyze and discuss a variety of recent publications relating to robot locomotion. Please be respectful that such publications are protected by copyright law; any links to publications are for educational use by students within this course, only!

Grading:	Class participation:	30%  (Includes leading at least one class discussion in the course of the term.)
	Homework:	35%  (Based on readings and class discussion, often involving MATLAB.)
	Final Project:	35%  (A short, technical paper and in-class presentation on independent work.)

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Last Updated: January 19, 2010