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Engineering · Robotics

Rover Lab

Drive a two-wheeled robot, tune a PID so it balances, map a room from lidar scans, and plan a day on Mars where every command takes minutes to arrive.

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The course

7 worlds · 30 lessons

World 1 · Two Wheels, One Robot

FREEThe robot loop, differential drive and why a plan is not enough
  1. 01Sense, think, actWhat makes a mobile robot · 10 min
  2. 02Left wheel, right wheelDifferential drive · 12 min
  3. 03Turning circles and pivotsThe radius of the path · 12 min
  4. 04Open-loop drivingWhy a plan is not enough · 11 min

World 2 · Where Am I? Odometry and Drift

PROCounting wheel turns, dead reckoning and why errors grow
  1. 01Counting wheel turnsEncoders · 11 minPRO
  2. 02Dead reckoningPosition from motion · 12 minPRO
  3. 03Small errors, big driftHow error accumulates · 12 minPRO
  4. 04Mixing sensorsGyro, accelerometer and the complementary filter · 13 minPRO

World 3 · Keeping Balance: PID

PROFeedback control from a thermostat to a robot on two wheels
  1. 01Error and feedbackThe control loop · 11 minPRO
  2. 02P, I and DThree simple ideas · 13 minPRO
  3. 03TuningOvershoot, rise time and settling · 13 minPRO
  4. 04Following a line and a wallPID in motion · 13 minPRO
  5. 05Standing on two wheelsThe self-balancing robot · 14 minPRO

World 4 · Seeing the World: Sensors

PROEchoes, light rangefinders, noise, filters and blind spots
  1. 01Echo timingUltrasonic sensors · 12 minPRO
  2. 02Light rangefindersIR and lidar · 13 minPRO
  3. 03Noise and filtersCleaning up readings · 13 minPRO
  4. 04What a sensor cannot seeBlind spots · 12 minPRO

World 5 · Building a Map

PROOccupancy grids, belief, localisation and the SLAM idea
  1. 01A grid of maybeOccupancy grids · 12 minPRO
  2. 02Updating beliefLog-odds · 13 minPRO
  3. 03Where am I on the map?Localization · 14 minPRO
  4. 04Map and position togetherThe SLAM idea · 13 minPRO

World 6 · Finding a Path

PRORobot size, planning on a grid, dodging and exploring
  1. 01Your robot is not a dotConfiguration space · 12 minPRO
  2. 02Planning on a gridFrom BFS to A* · 14 minPRO
  3. 03Dodging the unexpectedLocal obstacle avoidance · 13 minPRO
  4. 04Exploring the unknownFrontiers · 13 minPRO

World 7 · Mars Rover Mission

PRODelay, terrain, power and planning a sol
  1. 01Meet the Mars roversFrom Sojourner to Perseverance · 13 minPRO
  2. 02Why no joystick?Light-time delay and autonomy · 13 minPRO
  3. 03Six wheels, no springsRocker-bogie terrain · 13 minPRO
  4. 04Power, dust and coldThe budget of a sol · 14 minPRO
  5. 05Plan a solMission capstone · 16 minPRO