Robotics Engineering

Program of Study

The Robotics Engineering Program offers the M.S. degree with thesis and non-thesis (course-work only) options. The program strives to educate men and women to

Admission Requirements

Students will be eligible for admission to the program if they have earned an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a related field from an accredited university consistent with the WPI graduate catalog. Admission will also be open to qualified WPI students who opt for a five-year Bachelors-Masters program, with the undergraduate major in Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics Engineering or a related field. Admission decisions will be made by the Robotics Engineering Graduate Program Committee based on all of the factors presented in the application.

Degree Requirements

The M.S. program in Robotics Engineering requires 36 credit hours of work. Students may select a non-thesis option, which requires a 6-credit capstone design/practicum, or a thesis option which requires a 9-credit thesis. All entering students must submit a plan of study identifying the courses to be taken and a prospective project topic before the end of the first semester in the program. The plan of study must be approved by the student's advisor and the RBE Graduate Program Committee, and must include the following minimum requirements:

  1. Robotics Core (15 credits)
    • Foundations (6 credits) RBE 500 Foundations of Robotics ME/RBE 501 Robot Dynamics
    • Computer Science: 3 credit hours selected from the following courses: CS 509 Design of Software Systems CS 534 Artificial Intelligence CS 546 Human-Computer Interaction
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering: 3 credit hours selected from the following courses: ECE 502 Analysis of Probabilistic Signals and Systems ECE 503 Digital Signal Processing ECE 504 Analysis of Deterministic Systems
    • Mechanical Engineering: 3 credit hours selected from the following courses: ME 523 Applied Linear Control ME 527 Dynamics ME 623 Applied Nonlinear Control
  2. Engineering Context (6 credits)
    • Management: 3 credit hours selected from the following courses: ETR 592 New Venture Management And Entrepreneurship MIS 576 Project Management MKT 563 Marketing of Emerging Technologies OBC 511 Interpersonal and Leadership Skills for Technological Managers OIE 546 Managing Technological Innovation
    • Systems Engineering: 3 credit hours selected from courses prefixed by SYS at the 500 level or above.
  3. Capstone / Thesis (6-9 credits)
    • A 6 credit hour capstone design project/ practicum or a 9 credit hour thesis.
  4. Electives (6-9 credits): Sufficient course work selected from courses at the 500 level or above with a prefix of RBE, CS, ECE, MA, ME, or SYS to total 36 credit hours. Courses at the 4000 level may also be taken as electives with the prior approval of the RBE Graduate Committee.
  5. Only one of ECE 504 and ME 523 may count towards the Robotics M.S. Degree.

Thesis Option

The M.S. thesis consists of 9 credit hours of work, normally spread over at least one academic year. A thesis committee will be set up during the first semester of thesis work. This committee will be selected by the student in consultation with the major advisor and will consist of the thesis advisor, who must be a full-time WPI RBE faculty member, and two other faculty members, at least one of whom is a WPI RBE faculty member, whose expertise will aid the student's research program. An oral presentation before the Thesis Committee and a general audience is required. In addition, all WPI thesis regulations must be followed.

Non-Thesis Options

As an alternative to a research-based thesis, students may elect a project or practicum to include a design/research component in their graduate program. For an M.S. Degree in Robotics Engineering this can be accomplished by completing a 6 credit capstone design project RBE 598 or a practicum RBE 596. The capstone design project must be approved by the Robotics Engineering Graduate Program Committee and must demonstrate significant graduate-level work involving Robotics Engineering. The capstone design project must include substantial analysis and/or design related to robotics engineering and will conclude with a substantial written report.

A practicum provides students an opportunity to put into practice the principles that have been studied in previous courses. It will generally be conducted off campus and will involve a real-world robotics engineering situation. Overall conduct of the practicum will be supervised by a WPI RBE faculty member; an on-site liaison will direct day-to-day activity. For a student from industry, the practicum maybe sponsored by his or her employer. The project must include substantial analysis and/or design related to robotics engineering and will conclude with a substantial written report.

Students completing a capstone design project or practicum must deliver a public oral presentation to a committee consisting of the supervising faculty member and two additional WPI faculty members (in the case of a practicum, the on-site liaison and one additional WPI faculty member). Successful completion of the project or practicum will be verified by this committee.

Transfer Credit

A student may petition for permission to use graduate courses taken at other institutions to satisfy RBE graduate degree requirements. A maximum of 12 graduate credits, with a grade of B or better, may be satisfied by courses taken elsewhere and not used to satisfy degree requirements at other institutions. Petitions are subject to approval by the RBE Graduate Committee, and are then filed with the Registrar. Transfer credit will not be allowed for undergraduate-level courses taken at other institutions. In general, transfer credit will not be allowed for any WPI undergraduate courses used to fulfill undergraduate degree requirements; however, note that there are exceptions in the case of students enrolled in the BS/MS program.

A student with one or more WPI master's degrees who is seeking an RBE master's degree from WPI may petition to apply up to 9 prior credits toward satisfying requirements for the subsequent degree. Petitions are subject to approval by the RBE Graduate Committee.

Students who take graduate courses at WPI prior to formal admission to the RBE graduate program may petition to apply up to 9 graduate credits to fulfill the RBE graduate degree requirements. Once again, petitions are subject to approval by the RBE Graduate Committee.

BS/MS in Robotics Engineering

The requirements for the proposed M.S. in Robotics Engineering are structured so that undergraduate students would be able to pursue a five-year Bachelors/Masters program, in which the Bachelors degree is awarded in any major offered at WPI and the Masters degree is awarded in Robotics Engineering.

WPI allows the double counting of up to 12 credits for students pursuing a 5-year Bachelors-Masters program. This overlap can be achieved through the following mechanisms:

 

Summary of Credit Requirements

MS Thesis

MS Non-Thesis

BS/MS

Robotics Core

15

15

15

Engineering Context

6

6

6

Electives

6

9

9

Thesis

9

-

-

Capstone Design / Practicum

-

6

6

Double Count

-

-

(12)

Total

36

36

24

Faculty

Michael A. Gennert, Associate Professor, Computer Science Department Head, Robotics Engineering Program Director; Sc.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Image processing, image understanding, artificial intelligence, robotics, scientific databases, theoretical computer science.

Fred J. Looft, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Head, Robotics Engineering Program Associate Director; Ph.D., Michigan; Instrumentation, digital and analog systems, signal processing, biomedical engineering, microprocessor systems and architectures, space-flight systems.

Gretar Tryggvason, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department Head, Robotics Engineering Program Associate Director; Ph.D., Brown University; Numerical modeling of multiphase flows.

Holly K. Ault, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Geometric modeling, mechanical design, CAD, kinematics, biomechanics, rehabilitation engineering.

David C. Brown, Professor; Ph.D., Ohio State; Knowledge-based design systems, artificial intelligence.

Michael J. Ciaraldi, Professor of Practice; M.S., Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Rochester; Robotics education, software engineering, real-time and embedded systems.

David Cyganski, Professor; Ph.D., Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Optimization and security of Internet communications, distributed and fault-tolerant computing, CORBA, machine vision, automatic target recognition.

Eben C. Cobb, Visiting Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Connecticut; Computer aided design and kinematics, design of high-speed precision equipment, dynamics of high-speed rotating equipment, smart structures, vibration control.

Michael A. Demetriou, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Southern California; Control of intelligent systems, control of fluid-structure interaction systems, fault detection and accommodation of dynamical systems, acoustic and vibration control, smart materials and structures, sensor and actuator networks in distributed processes, control of mechanical systems.

R. James Duckworth, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Nottingham University; Embedded computer system design, computer architecture, real-time systems, wireless instrumentation, rapid prototyping, logic synthesis.

Alexander E. Emanuel, Professor; D.Sc., Israel Institute of Technology; Power quality, power electronics, electromagnetic design, high-voltage technology.

Gregory Fischer, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University; Medical robotics, computer assisted surgery, robot control, automation, sensors and actuators.

Mustapha S. Fofana, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada; Delay dynamical systems, nonlinear machine-tool chatter, stochastic nonlinear dynamics, reliability dynamics and control of medical ambulance, design and manufacturing of combat feeding systems, CNC machining dynamics and control, sustainable lean manufacturing systems.

Cosme Furlong, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Worcester Polytechnic Institute; MEMS and MOEMS, nanotechnology, mechatronics, laser applications, holography, computer modeling of dynamic systems.

Allen H. Hoffman, Professor; Ph.D., University of Colorado; Biomechanics, biomaterials, biomedical engineering, rehabilitation engineering, biofluids, continuum mechanics.

Ximing Huang, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Virginia Tech; Reconfigurable computing, VLSI integrated circuits, networked embedded systems.

Islam I. Hussein, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Michigan; Cooperative control of intelligent multiple vehicle sensor network systems, geometric mechanics and control, optimal control theory.

Robert W. Lindeman, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., George Washington; Humancomputer interaction, haptics, virtual environments.

William R. Michalson, Professor; Ph.D., Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Satellite navigation, real-time embedded computer systems, digital music and audio signal processing, simulation and system modeling.

Robert L. Norton, Milton Prince Higgins II Professor; M.S., Tufts University; Mechanical design and analysis, dynamic signal analysis, computer- aided engineering, computer-aided design, finite element method, vibration analysis, engineering design, biomedical engineering.

Taskin Padir, Visiting Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Purdue University; Modeling and control of robotic systems, kinematics and dynamics of robot manipulators, redundancy resolution and trajectory planning, automated system design, machine vision.

Gary F. Pollice, Professor of Practice; M.S., University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Software engineering, quality and testing, programming languages, collaborative development and processes.

Charles Rich, Professor; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Artificial intelligence and its intersections with human-computer interaction, interactive media and game development, robotics, intelligent tutoring systems, knowledgebased software tools.

Yiming (Kevin) Rong, John Woodman Higgins Professor and Associate Director Manufacturing & Materials Engineering; Ph.D., University of Kentucky; Manufacturing systems and processes, heat treatment process modeling and simulation, CAD/CAM, computer-aided fixture design and verification.

Kenneth A. Stafford, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Robotics Resource Center Director; M.S., Air Force Institute of Technology; Robotics systems design.

James D. Van de Ven, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Minnesota; Propulsion systems, energy storage, kinematics, manipulator design, machine design.

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Last modified: July 29, 2009 15:31:48