CS 791: Robotics

3 credits (Lecture 3 + Lab 0)

Spring 2016

Instructor: Dr. David Feil-Seifer

E-mail:

Phone: (775) 784-6469

Office: SEM 218

Office hours: TWTh: 2:30pm-3:30pm

Class webpage:

Lectures:

Tuesday, Thursday: 4pm-5:15pm, LMR 253

Labs:

none

Important Notes and Dates:

  • Final project presentations: TBA

Required Textbook:

  • none

Supplemental Books:

  • none

Course Description:

Gain a knowledge of basic robotics fundamentals such as: sensing, navigation, planning, and tele-operation. Understand how basic robotics concepts are applied to understanding Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Learn and apply research methods commonly used in the HRI field. Read and evaluate scientific literature to determine follow-up areas for research exploration and constructively criticize experiment design. Understand basic robotics programming concepts using a robotics control framework widely used in the field. Complete a group research project extending a current robotics capability or studying a new facet of Human-Robot Interaction.

Prerequisites:

Courses:

  • CS 302 (Data Structures)

Topics:

  • Good programming skills are essential.

Course Objective:

Students will understand how basic robotics concepts are applied to understanding Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Learn and apply research methods commonly used in the HRI field.

Graduate Student Outcomes and Course Outcomes:

The course outcomes are skills and abilities students should have acquired by the end of the course. These outcomes determine how the general CSE Graduate Student Outcomes apply specifically to this course. All CSE Graduate Student Outcomes are listed in the next subsection and those relevant to this course are identified in the following Table.

CSE Graduate Student Outcomes / Course Outcomes / Assessment Methods/Metrics
a / Students are capable to understand and apply state of the art methods in human-robot interaction (for study design, robot development, etc). / Project.
b / Students must be able to design and conduct experimental validation for a computational approach to a HRI problem, and interpret the results to assess the performance (accuracy, efficiency, robustness) of the method. / Project, paper reviews.
c / Students are better prepared to analyze a problem and assess the strengths and weaknesses of different methods and techniques for solving it. / Paper reviews, paper presentations.

CSE Graduate Student Outcomes:

  1. an ability to apply engineering and computer science research and theory to advance the art, science, and practice of the discipline.
  2. an ability to design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze, interpret, apply, and disseminate the data.
  3. an understanding of research methodology.

Course Topics:

  • Human-Robot Interaction
  • Experiment Design
  • Robot Navigation
  • Robot Movement
  • Object Recognition and Manipulation
  • Understanding Social Scenarios
  • Human-Oriented Vision

Course Policies:

  • Students are expected to attend, and be on time, for every class. This demonstrates professionalism and consideration for your fellow students and your instructor.
  • Students are expected to turn in all assigned materials in a timely manner.
  • Students are expected to demonstrate professionalism and courtesy by either silencing or turning off all cell phones and/or other alarm or audible indicator devices.
  • The instructor reserves the right to add to, and/or modify any of the above policies as needed to maintain an appropriate and effective educational atmosphere in the classroom. In the case that this occurs, all students will be notified in advance of the implementation of the new and/or modified policy.

UNR Athletics:

  • If you are involved with any university-sponsored athletic activities that will have an impact on your attendance, please provide your instructor with a letter from your coach and/or the UNR Athletic Department as soon as possible, but no later than the end of the second week of classes. This should include the official schedule of your activities which will impact your attendance throughout the semester.

Assignments, Examinations and Grading:

Paper Reviews:

  • During each lecture we will discuss a numbers of papers on a specific research topic. Students must read the papers before class and submit a half-page review for each paper at the beginning of the class. A review must contain:
  • Title and authors of the paper
  • A summary that emphasizes the contributions of the paper

A critique that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the paper

Discussion:

  • Each week will feature a classroom discussion regarding the papers. Students are encouraged to discuss issues arising in their critiques of the relevant papers. Participation in this discussion will be graded. Quantity is far less important than quality. As with the critiques, constructive comments will be prized over simply saying “This method is not good.”

Paper Presentations:

  • During the semester, each student is required to present several papers to the rest of the class. Each presentation should take about 10-15 minutes and must be prepared as if presented in a formal conference (i.e., slides, projector).

Project:

  • Students will submit group research projects. Groups up to 4 people will be allowed. The final milestone of this project is a short (6-8 page) paper summarizing the motivation, approach, and results of the project. Project timeline is as follows:
  • Week 5 Group ideas due: For this milestone, students should turn in the members of their group and 1-paragraph descriptions of three distinct projects to be discussed with the TA/Instructor.
  • Week 6 Project proposal draft due: Groups must turn in a short project description of the motivating problem and how the project will address this problem. Think of this milestone as the “Introduction” and “Background and Motivation” sections of a research paper.
  • Week 8 Detailed project proposal due: Groups will turn in an extended project description detailing the approach, experiment design, and analysis plan for any data collected. Think of this milestone as the Introduction, Background, Approach, Experiment Design, and the outline of the Analysis sections. Clearly state the hypotheses of the experiment. Groups will present a 15-20 minute presentation about their project idea in order to groups to receive constructive criticism from the rest of the class.
  • Final papers will be due on May 4th. Groups will turn in a completed research paper at the beginning of class. I can review, edit and return papers turned in more than a week early, if you are concerned about your work.
  • Project report
  • The project report should include:
  • Title and author
  • Abstract
  • Introduction and motivation
  • Problem definition, including project goals, assumptions, constraints, and evaluation criteria
  • Review of relevant literature and previous research, and how it relates to the project
  • Details of proposed approach, with sufficient mathematical and algorithmic detail to allow someone else to duplicate the results
  • Results and objective experimental evaluation of the proposed approach
  • Discussion and conclusion
  • References
  • There are two targeted goals behind the implementation of a particular approach. The first goal is to verify that the approach works. Towards this goal, each student is expected to test his/her implementation using various data. The second goal is to identify weak points of the approach, that is, to identify under what circumstances the approach will fail to produce good results. Identifying situations which cause problems to a particular approach is very important since it allows further improvements by specifically addressing these cases.

Late Submission Policy:

  • No late assignments will be accepted.

Grading Structure:

  • The final score will be computed as follows:

Class Item / % of Grade
Project / 60%
Paper presentations / 10%
Paper reviews / 20%
Attendance and class participation / 10%

Letter Grades:

  • The letter grade will be computed according to the following table. Some upward adjustment may occur, but do not count on it.

90-100: A-, A

80-89:B-, B, B+

70-79:C-, C, C+

60-69:D-, D, D+

< 60:F

Academic Dishonesty:

Students are encouraged to study together, however each student must individually prepare his/her solutions. Cheating, plagiarism or otherwise obtaining grades under false pretenses constitute academic dishonesty according to the code of this university. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and penalties can include canceling a student's enrollment without a grade, giving an F for the course or for the assignment. For more details, see the University of Nevada, Reno General Catalog.

Disability Services:

Any student with a disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to contact the instructor or the Disability Resource Center (Thompson Building, Suite 101) as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

Academic Success Services:

Your student fees cover usage of the Math Center (784-443 or Tutoring Center (784-6801 or and University Writing Center (784-6030 or These centers support your classroom learning; it is your responsibility to take advantage of their services. Keep in mind that seeking help outside of class is the sign of a responsible and successful student.

Audio and Video Recording:

Surreptitious or covert video-taping of class or unauthorized audio recording of class is prohibited by law and by Board of Regents policy. This class may be videotaped or audio recorded only with the written permission of the instructor. In order to accommodate students with disabilities, some students may have been given permission to record class lectures and discussions. Therefore, students should understand that their comments during class may be recorded.