Robotics Program
Catalog pages 574-575
Robotics Engineering Undergraduate Major
Major
Robotics studies the design, operation, and deployment of autonomous intelligent systems and mechanisms. Robotics is a fundamentally multidisciplinary field, with core components spanning engineering and computer science, and applications extending beyond science and technology. Courses in the B.S. in Robotics Engineering program focus both on the theory and the practice of contemporary robotics science and engineering, and prepare students for professional careers and graduate studies in robotics and beyond (e.g., autonomous systems, intelligent control systems, and decision making).
The B.S. in Robotics Engineering major is an interdepartmental program offered by the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE), and involves the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science and Engineering. Students are advised in and have their records maintained by the BCOE Office of Student Academic Affairs. Students must fulfill the breadth requirements of the Bourns College of Engineering.
University Requirements
See Undergraduate Students section.
College Requirements
For details on breath requirements, see the Colleges and Programs section of this catalog. Students are encouraged to consult their advi- sor regarding requirements.
Major Requirements
- 1. Lower-division requirements (72 units)
- a. MATH 009A or MATH 009AH; MATH 009B or
or MATH 009 CH; MATH10A; MATH 011; MATH 031; MATH 46.
- e. EE 005.
- 2. Upper-division requirements (65 units)
EE 132; EE 142 / CS 171; EE 144 /ME 144.
- d. Four courses (at least 16 units) from
the following list, none of which can also be used to satisfy other major requirements: CS 111; CS 122A; CS 122B; CS 135; CS 141; CS 145; CS 150; CS 160; CS 170; CS 173; ME 110; ME 122; ME 130; ME 131; ME 133; ME 153; EE 100A; EE 115; EE 128; EE 141; EE 146; EE 147; EE 150; EE 151; EE 152; ENGR 160.
- e. One of the following two-course
sequences: CS 178A and CS 178B, or EE 175A and EE 175B, or ME 175B and ME 175C.
Graduate Program
The Robotics program offers the M.S. degree in Robotics after completion of the following requirements.
Master of Science in Robotics
Admission All applicants to this program must have completed a Bachelor’s degree or its approved equivalent from an accredited institution and to have attained undergraduate record that satis- fies the standards established by the Graduate Division and University Graduate Council. Ap- plicants should have at least an undergraduate major in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engi- neering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a closely related field. Applicants who fail to meet this criterion may sometimes be admitted with course deficiencies, provided they take remedial steps to cover the deficiencies.
A student who is deficient in a competency area may be asked to complete the corresponding UCR course with a letter grade of at least B, or to pass a challenge examination based on that course’s final exam with a grade of at least B. All such remedial work should be completed within the first year of graduate study, and in all cases the deficiency(s) must be corrected BEFORE a student can enroll in any graduate course from the same specialty area. The de- tails will be decided by the Graduate Advisor of the program in consultation with the student.
All applicants must submit scores from the Graduate Record Exam, General Test (GRE). Rel- evant GRE subject tests may be beneficial to the candidate’s application, but are not required. Applicants whose first language is not English are required to submit acceptable scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) unless they have a degree from an institution where English is the exclusive language of instruction. Additionally each applicant must submit letters of recom- mendation, as per the admission requirements. All other application requirements are specified in the graduate application.
The committee designing the program fully recognizes that students from ME, EE, CEN and CS have different undergraduate training. The program is designed so that all students who have completed their undergraduate degrees in these areas will be able to take these courses. The program also allows for a number of undergrad courses which can be taken to build the fundamentals necessary before the graduate course is taken.
Course Work The MS in Robotics requires the completion of 40 units of coursework, including a capstone experience. Units are divided among core, focus area, and elective courses. A total of 12 units maximum can be at the undergraduate level, selected from the list of courses below. Collo- quium units do not count towards the 40 units.
Core Courses: Five courses for a total of 20 units are required. All students must complete the same core courses:
CS 224 – Machine Learning Fundamentals
EE 235 – Linear control systems
EE 283A – Foundations of Robotics
ME 224 – Computational methods for robotics
ME 225 – Design and fabrication of robots
Focus Area Courses: Three courses for a total of 12 units are re- quired. Courses must belong to the same focus area, which is selected by the student from the four possible choices. At most, one focus course can be at the undergraduate level.
- 1. Mechanical design and fabrication
ME 174, ME 175B, ME 175C, ME 210, ME 230, ME 232, ME 233, ME 271
- 2. Embedded platforms and system design
EE 217, EE 246, EE 255, EE 258
- 3. Control and navigation
EE 132, EE 144, EE 151, EE 231, EE 236, EE 237, EE 238, EE 239, EE 245, EE 246
ME 121, ME 145, ME 220, ME 221, ME 223
- 4. Artificial intelligence and perception
CS 170, CS 171, CS 173, CS 205, CS 227, CS 229/EE 240, CS 235
EE 142, EE 146, EE 236, EE 241, EE 243, EE 244, EE 245, EE 247
Elective Courses: Students completing the comprehensive exam option will take two courses for a total of 8 units chosen from the options below. Students completing the project option will complete 8 units of CS, EE, or ME 297. Any courses not listed will require approval of the program graduate advisor.
- 1. course from the focus areas above that
hasn’t already been used.
ME 153, ME 176, ME 200, ME 201, ME 203, ME 210, ME 231, ME 233, ME 270, ME 274
- 3. Any course listed in the EE Graduate
Manual in the areas Signals, Systems and Machine Intelligence (SSMI) and VLSI Circuits and Systems (VCS).
- 4. Undergrad courses in the following
undergrad EE focus areas are allowed: Communications, Signal Processing and Networking; Controls, Robotics and Machine Intelligence; and VLSI and Embedded Systems.
- 5. Any graduate CS course listed in the
Catalog under the CS Graduate Program in the Major Specialty Areas of C (Databases, Information Retrieval, Data Mining, and Machine Learning), D (Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, and High Performance Computing), or E (Computer Networks).
- 7. one of these two courses can be taken
for credit in the program: EE 132 and ME 121
Professional Development All M.S. Robotics students must satisfactorily complete a colloquium course every quarter of their study, CS 287, EE 259, or ME 250. The inter- departmental nature of the Robotics program calls for students attending colloquia in multiple departments. The program over- sight committee will coordinate with the three departments to identify the set of colloquia that the students should attend.
Additionally, students in the program must submit a Professional Development Report that details the students’ efforts in developing their technical writing and presentation skills. This report should be submitted to and ap- proved by the program Oversight Committee, as part of the Capstone experience. Specific guidance for this report will be provided by the committee to the students.
Capstone Experience (Plan II) Students must complete a capstone experi- ence that integrates knowledge from across their course of study by selecting one of the two options below:
- a. Comprehensive Exam Option – Students
take a comprehensive exam based on the courses in the program. The faculty committee overseeing the program will coordinate with the individual depart- ments on the logistics of the exam.
- b. Project Option – Students must complete
a research project under the guidance of a faculty member. The project will be approved by a committee of at least two faculty members and requires a presentation and written report.
Normative Time – Six quarters (two years)