All updates in response to the COVID-19 precautions are highlighted in blue.
1 Course Staff
| Instructor | Prof. Katie Driggs-Campbell | krdc@illinois.edu |
| Engineering Teaching Lab Specialist | Dan Block | d-block@illinois.edu |
| Teaching Assistants | Peixin Chang Ben Walt Shuijing Liu Chuyuan Tao Mario Perez | pchang17@illinois.edu walt@illinois.edu sliu105@illinois.edu chuyuan2@illinois.edu mariop2@illinois.edu |
2 Time and Place
2.1 Lecture
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30pm-1:50pm, in ECEB 1015, posted on Echo360.
2.2 Laboratory
Labs will be held in ECEB 3071. Labs will start the week of January 27th (the second week of class).
For up to date information on labs as well as the section dates and times, check out the lab website: http://coecsl.ece.illinois.edu/ece470/
After spring break, there will be no more lab sections until further notice.
2.3 Office Hours and Homework Party
Office hours are available on the Office Hours page, and will be held via Zoom until further notice.
Homework Party (group office hours and study sessions) will be held on Fridays from 3:00-6:00pm in 2017 ECEB (except 2/28), on Zoom.
See description below in course content.
3 Course Description
The robotics industry is in a period of rapid growth. This course will cover the fundamentals of modeling, perception, planning, and control, that you need to enter this industry and take advantage of the opportunities presented by it. This course will introduce you to standard modeling and control techniques as well as modern ways of thinking about robotics that are based on methods of optimization and learning. Consistent with these ways of thinking, this course will place a strong emphasis on computation.
4 Prerequisites
You must be willing to code in MATLAB, python, and in C++. You must be willing to use analytical tools drawn from linear algebra, differential calculus, and basic probability theory.
5 Reference Texts
Modern Robotics, Lynch and Park, Cambridge University Press, 2017
– authors’ site (free version, video lectures): http://lynchandpark.org
– publisher’s site: Cambridge University Press https://goo.gl/U5uZdu
Probabilistic Robotics, Thrun, Burgard, and Fox, MIT Press, 2005
– authors’ site: http://www.probabilistic-robotics.org/
Supplementary material will be made available with the posted lecture notes on the Schedule page.
6 Grading
The grade distribution will be as follows:
– 10% Participation (reflections, attendance, class contributions)
– 20% Homework
– 25% CBTF Quizzes
– 25% Group Project
– 20% Laboratory
– 20% Group Project
– 25% Laboratory
The final grades will be curved, but you can expect the following scale: 90-100 (A), 80-89 (B), 70-79 (C), 60-69 (D), >60 (F).
More information about each of these items is provided in the course content section below.
7 Course Content
7.1 Participation
Participation is an important part of this course and will be measured in a number of different ways. Like most courses, you will get credit for positive contributions to the course, for example: being active on Piazza, helping others in office hours, providing interesting insights or discussion points, contributing in class, etc. There will be two self-assessment forms throughout the semester to let the staff know how you are participating. You will also get participation for:
Reflections on guest lectures: We will have at least three guest speakers over the course of the semester. After each talk, you’ll be asked to submit a one page reflection on what you learned from the speaker, your thoughts on the discussion, and how it relates to the course. This report will be graded: 50% for completion and submission + 50% for producing thoughtful content.Attendance: During some lectures, attendance will be taken. Attendance will be taken during every guest lecture.- Homework Parties: Every Friday from 3:00-6:00pm
in ECEB2017, there will be a homework party: a group office hours where you may work on homework or the project and get help from other students as well as the TAs (at least two TAs will be present at all times). Assisting other students will be noted by the course staff and contribute to your participation grade. - Self-Assessments: Twice throughout the semester, you’ll be asked to assess your participation in the course. Please see the Important Dates tab for links and due dates.
- Shout outs: To recognize a fellow student for outstanding positive contributions (i.e., participation), fill out this shout out form, which will be open until the end the semester. Note that you will be required to be logged in through your Illinois account.
- Online participation. As the course will now be offered remotely, we will be putting a bit more emphasis or weight in your participation online (e.g., remote office hours, piazza, etc).
7.2 Homework
There will be many small homework assignments (approximately one each week). You will complete them online using PrairieLearn (https://prairielearn.engr.illinois.edu). This system will give you instant feedback on each question (right or wrong) and allow multiple attempts with no penalty.
Homework will be due every Friday at 8pm CT. No homework assignments will be dropped.
For one week after the deadline, you may submit a late assignment for up to 50% credit.
7.3 Quizzes
There will be three one-hour quizzes. They will be closed book. Electronic devices (calculators, phones, etc.) will not be permitted. However, you will have access to python (and MATLAB). All quizzes will be taken in the Computer-Based Testing Facility (CBTF), which is in the basement of Grainger Library (Room 57). Our use of CBTF will give you flexibility in scheduling your quizzes, show your results immediately, and allow you to retake the first two quizzes exactly once.
The remaining quizzes will be taken remotely (i.e., from the comfort of your own home). They will be open note/book and you can use your python and/or matlab for computation. You will be given one hour to complete the exam. We trust that you will uphold the Student Honor Code and will not discuss the quiz with anyone outside of the course staff.
If you retake a quiz, your score will be computed as follows:
\( \text{final score} = \begin{cases} \frac{1}{3}(\text{first score}) + \frac{2}{3}(\text{second score}), & \text{if second score} > \text{first score} \\ \text{first score}, & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}\)
7.3.1 CBTF Policies
Please check out the official policies: https://cbtf.engr.illinois.edu
The policies of the CBTF are the policies of this course, and academic integrity infractions related to the CBTF are infractions in this course. Any problem with testing in the CBTF must be reported to CBTF staff at the time the problem occurs. If you do not inform a proctor of a problem during the test, then you forfeit all rights to redress.
7.3.2 DRES Accommodations
If you have accommodations identified by the Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services (DRES) for exams, please take your Letter of Accommodation (LOA) to the CBTF proctors in person before you make your first exam reservation. The proctors will advise you as to whether the CBTF provides your accommodations or whether you will need to make other arrangements with your instructor.
If you have accommodations identified by the Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services (DRES) for exams, please send your Letter of Accommodation (LOA) to Katie as soon as possible to make the adjustments.
7.4 Group Project
Throughout the semester, you’ll be working in small teams (up to 3 members) on a freeform project. In this project, you are expected to simulate a robot (of your choice) to complete some task (of your choice). You’ll be asked to integrate each topic of the course into your robot pipeline (concrete details to be provided on the website) and put together a compelling pitch to “sell” your intelligent robot. Every few weeks there will be a checkpoint, to make sure you’re making progressing and implementing course content. At the end of the semester, you’ll give a short presentation to the class and submit a final report. This report will take the place of a final exam.
Example reports and videos can be found on the project page.
7.5 Laboratory
You will attend weekly laboratory sessions. Attendance is required, unless a written explanation is obtained from the emergency dean. You will work in groups to do in-lab activities, will show in-lab demos to your TA, and will submit reports. Details will be posted here: http://coecsl.ece.illinois.edu/ece470/.
Lab reports will be submitted through Gradescope. Please contact an instructor if you have not been added to the class roster.
7.6 Extra Credit
No homeworks or quizzes will be dropped from the course. However, there are two opportunities for extra credit. First, there will be an optional CBTF orientation run by the CBTF staff that is designed get you used to the CBTF. This will be worth a bonus 1% added to your grade (roughly weighted as one homework).
Second, you can do an extra credit project that will count for a bonus max 5% added to your total grade (roughly weighted as equivalent to one quiz or a few homeworks). You may (individually or in pairs*) submit an informational/tutorial video on your favorite topic in the class. In a visual way, this video should motivate why this topic is important, explain the fundamentals, walk through an example problem, and provide resources for further study. For inspiration, check out 3Blue1Brown or the Kahn Academy on YouTube.
* pairs will split the bonus credit in half (each will get up to 2.5%)
Guidelines: The videos should be ~5 in length. You will be scored on 0-5 on the following:
– Is the video a good length?
– How challenging is the topic?
– Did you provide an interesting motivating example?
– How well did you explain the topic?
– Did you provide an informative worked example?
– How effective are the visualizations used?
– Does the video demonstrate creativity in teaching?
Please submit your video through this google form. Note that you must be logged in to Google Drive with your Illinois account for access.
8 Website, Access, and Correspondence
All materials and updates will be posted here on our course website.
We have set up a Piazza for questions. You should have received an invitation to enroll. Please do so.
All correspondence with the TAs will be through piazza. Note that the instructor will not be available through Piazza.
To encourage course participation and student answers, we have put a timer delay on staff responses. Note that you can earn participation points by actively answering questions on Piazza and helping out your fellow students.
All announcements will be sent out via Piazza emails.