Instructor

Prof. Arpita Sinha

Section

Minor (M)

Semester

Spring 2022-23

Course Difficulty

Easy to Moderate for those who have decent experience in ROS beforehand. Moderate to Difficult for those who are new to ROS since the course will have a steep learning curve otherwise and doing the assignments will be difficult. Having some knowledge of graph theory will also help, although it is covered in the course as well.

Time commitment needed

The class took place in slot 5, which was the standard minor slot. Each assignment might take a few days to implement in simulation and test on the hardware before the lab demonstration and viva.

Grading Statistics

Non-Minor section AA - 2 AB - 2 AU - 1 BB - 5 BC - 3 FR - 1 Total - 14

Minor section AA - 5 AB - 4 FR - 1 Total - 10

Attendance Policy

None

Teaching Style

Prof would teach by writing the necessary stuff on the whiteboard, she doesn’t provide slides so be prepared.

Feedback on Assignments/ Tutorials/ Projects

The assignments are based on the algorithms taught in the class. The algorithm can more or less be used directly and implemented in ROS. One-two weeks are spent on getting people up to speed with ROS (but for most people this isn’t enough) and working with the Turtlebot hardware. The simulation aspect of the assignment can be completed within a few days. However one should realize that the real world is not so straightforward so one must spend at least a day in the lab to test the code and see whether it runs as expected or not (trust me one can face all kinds of weird issues regarding this).

Feedback on Exams (Written Evaluation)

The midsem was based on the algorithms taught and is not very difficult if you understand how they work algorithmically (no need to have a deep mathematical understanding). The endsem was based on graph theory (lol !) since pretty much most of the algorithms in the latter half of the course used graph based techniques.

Future Tracks

Good course for anyone who wants to get introduced to basic motion planning and coordination algorithms for robots.

Course Importance

It is a perfect course for those who want to work at the intersection of hardware + software, which is very rare in the institute. One gets to know the challenges of working with hardware first hand and the experience can shape their general view of robotics.

Additional Details

None

Contact Details

Jacob Thomas Sony - 8882903969