Module overview
This module introduces fundamental concepts in robot kinematics and dynamics through a combination of lectures for theory, and tutorials for programming and simulation. It covers the mathematical foundations needed to analyse planar robotic systems, including both serial and parallel robots. Students progress from basic coordinate transformations to forward and inverse kinematics simultaneously learning how to write programs to simulate these and interactively explore concepts such as robot workspace. The students then study how to build dynamic models of robots. Guided tutorials on implementing the studied concepts as well as simulation and visualization of robot motion by coding using a programming language offer a strong foundation in robotics. This helps prepare students for advanced robotics courses, make effective use of standard robot simulation software as well as tackle novel robot design and control problems they may encounter in research and industry.