87251 - Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics m

Learning outcomes

The student will acquire basic knowledge of theoretical and practical issues related to: (i) programming, using, and controlling industrial automation hardware and software (sensors, actuators, robots) (ii) task, path, and trajectory planning (iii) how to integrate automation tools. The student will make use of the acquired knowledge by carrying out individual and group laboratory projects.

Course contents

Students are asked to form workgroups (4 people, depending on the number of laboratory participants and hardware availability). Each group will have access to an automation workbench and to a collaborative robot, to produce experiments about the subjects treated in the course. In the first part of the course, students are asked to write code suitable for the exercises they are assigned. In the second part of the course, stand-alone devices, such as collaborative manipulators and cameras, will be programmed with a high-level language (MATLAB and polyscope).

The subjects treated during the course are:

• Automation software basics
• Automation peripherals
• communication peripherals
• Elementary sensors and actuators
• Motion planning
• Industrial and collaborative robotics
• Introduction to artificial vision
• Automation in the industry

Readings/Bibliography

Professors will guide students in implementing the practical laboratory experiences and the assigned exercises, with slides and classroom tutorials.

Suggested complementary texts are:

• Biagiotti, Luigi, and Claudio Melchiorri - Trajectory planning for automatic machines and robots.
• https://infosys.beckhoff.com [https://infosys.beckhoff.com/]
• Norma IEC 61131-3
• Laplante, Ovaska - Real-time systems design and analysis. Tools for the practitioner
• Universal Robots - Manuale utente
• Universal Robots – Manuale PolyScope
• Universal Robot – The URScript Programming Language
• Richard Szeliski - Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications
• Wilhelm Burger - Zhang's Camera Calibration Algorithm: In-Depth Tutorial and Implementation
• Dibyendu Mukherjee, Q.M. Jonathan Wu, Guanghui Wang - A Comparative Experimental Study of Image Feature Detectors and Descriptors

Teaching methods

The course is mainly carried out with:

• interactive laboratory sessions, where professors and tutors will guide the students in the use of the hardware/software at their disposal,
• individual exercises that each group shall autonomously carry out in the classroom, with the help and assistance of professors and tutors,
• home assignments.

The course is based on hands-on experiences, thus it is highly recommended to be present in the classroom (virtual participation may also be considered, but this will most certainly limit the student's ability to learn, and interact with his/her group).

Due to the laboratory nature of this course, all students are required to attend Modules 1, 2 and 3 about health and safety in study areas. Modules 1 and 2 [https://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/health-and-assistance/health-and-safety/online-course-on-health-and-safety-in-study-and-internship-areas] can be attended online, wherease Module 3 has to be attended in class. Information about Module 3 schedule is available on the website of your degree programme.

Assessment methods

Before sustaining the final exams, students are required to whether submit a lab report, or to follow at least 48h of teachings.

 

The lab report must contain the description, the procedures, and the results of the assigned exercises. For each activity, the relevant code should be included in the report, and video material showing the physical results of the experiments should also be submitted for evaluation.

The final exam consists in an oral discussion of an automation conceptual design problem (30 min), and a practical part where students have to re-implement part of the lab exercises they exercised on during the course (4h).

Teaching tools

Teaching materials will be distributed through the virtual page [https://virtuale.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=52579] of the course.

Links to further information

https://virtuale.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=52579

Office hours

See the website of Edoardo Ida