Open to rising juniors in the departments of Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science

Application Portal opens in the beginning of Spring semester

Eligibility Requirements

Students must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for consideration:

  • Majoring in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Computer Science
  • Minimum of 30 university credits completed (sophomore standing)
  • Minimum GPA of 3.0
  • At least four semesters remaining at the University of Maryland prior to graduation
  • Completion of the following program prerequisites: 
           MATH: MATH246 Differential Equations or ENES221 Dynamics 
           PROGRAMMING: CMSC131 Object-Oriented Programming I or ENME202/ENAE202 Computing Fundamentals  or
           ENEE150 Intermediate Programming Concepts

How to Apply

The Maryland Robotics Center is accepting RAS minor applications for Fall enrollment. The RAS minor is a limited participation program. For best consideration, applications should be submitted on or before the Friday before spring break annually. The application portal will remain open until the start of the fall semester. If the Fall RAS cohort is full, eligible applications submitted after the Friday before spring break will be automatically added to a waiting list.

Contact

For any questions please contact robotics-minor@umd.edu

Program Requirements

  • Minimum of 21-22 credits: 12 credits of required core coursework (ENME480, ENAE450, ENEE467, and CMSC477), 4 credits of MATH240 or 3 credits of MATH461, and 6 credits of approved technical electives. 
  • Minimum of 2.0 GPA and C- or better in all courses required for the minor.
  • The RAS minor must be completed simultaneously with a major degree program.

Robotics Success Tutoring Service

The Maryland Robotics Center’s Robotics Success is a tutoring program where Robotics and Autonomous Systems minor students can receive help with their homework, projects and test preparation. Individual and group sessions are available. For more information please contact, robotics-minor@umd.edu

Master of Engineering in Robotics Tuition Awards Program 

The Master of Engineering in Robotics Tuition Awards Program is open to graduating Robotics and Autonomous Systems Minor students intending on pursuing a Master of Engineering (MEng) in Robotics degree offered by Maryland Applied Graduate Engineering (MAGE). Learn more.

 

ENME480 Introduction to Robotics
Course Description: This course is an introductory course to the robotics minor and educates students in the elementary concepts of robotics. The topics covered in the course include mathematics of rigid motion, rotations, translations, homogeneous transformations, forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, velocity kinematics, geometric Jacobian, analytical Jacobian, motion planning, trajectory generation, independent joint control, linear control methods such as PD, PID, actuator dynamics, feedforward control for trajectory tracking, force control, basic computer vision concepts including thresholding, image segmentation, and camera calibration. This course also includes a laboratory component to be conducted in the Robot Realization Laboratory in the Engineering Annex Building.
Prerequisites
MATH246 or ENES221; and CMSC131, ENME202, ENAE202, or ENEE150 
Restriction: Must be in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems minor; or permission of department.
Offered Fall semester (year 1)
S
ection 0101- Lec MW 2:00-2:50pm, Lab Th 12:00-2:00pm
Section 0102- Lec MW 2:00-2:50pm, Lab Fri 8:00-10:00am

ENAE450 Robotics Programming
Course Description: This course introduces students to the Robot Operating System (ROS) as well as to many of the available tools commonly used in robotics. Lectures focus on theory and structure, whereas laboratory sections will focus on applications and implementations. Students learn how to create software and simulations, interface to sensors and actuators, and integrate control algorithms.  The course works through exercises involving a number of autonomous robots (i.e., ground and air vehicles) that students could eventually use in their future robotics minor courses. Topics include: ROS architecture, console commands, ROS packages, simulation environments, visualizations, autonomous navigation, manipulation, and robot vision.
Prerequisites
For RAS minor students: ENME480 
For non-minor AE students: ENAE380
Restriction: Must be in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems minor; or permission of department.
Offered Spring semester (year 1)
S
ection 0101- TuTh 3:30-4:45pm

ENEE467 Robotics Project Laboratory
Course Description: This practical robotics class teaches practical skills to build, control, and deploy robotic systems. Interdisciplinary groups of students develop real-world robotic systems. The first 10 weeks of the lab are devoted to 5 pre-programmed experiments. The remainder of the lab is devoted to student projects. Students work in teams of 2, preferably with each student coming from a different background in engineering. There are 2 weekly lectures. The emphasis of the class is entirely on making a real robot do what you want it to do. In the first experiment, students perform a simple servomechanism experiment, where students control a single joint of a robot. We vary the weight on the movable rod to simulate the effects of the changing inertia due to outer segments moving. Next, we have the students directly control several joints of a robot arm. The third experiment is to control the position and orientation of the end effector. A fourth experiment deals with grasping. A fifth experiment deals with the position and orientation of a wheeled robot. 
Prerequisites
For RAS minor students: ENAE450
For non-minor ECE students: ENEE322
Restriction: Must be in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems minor; or permission of department.
Offered Fall semester (year 2)
Section 0101- Lec MW 3:30-4:20pm, Lab M 12-2:50pm
Section 0102- Lec MW 3:30-4:20pm, Lab W 12-2:50pm
Section 0103- Lec MW 3:30-4:20pm, Lab F 10am-12:50pm
Section 0104- Lec MW 3:30-4:20pm, Lab F 1-3:50pm

CMSC477 Robotics Perception and Planning
Course Description: This course teaches the fundamentals of robot perception and robot path planning. The syllabus and course is divided into two segments, as per the major aspects involved in robotics. There will be lectures on (a) planning and control and (b) perception, with projects and homework. The syllabus includes the following: Motion Planning Introduction, Rigid Body Transformations, Velocity, Velocity Dynamics, Vehicle Controls, Graph Based Planning, Sampling Based Planning, Trajectory Planning, Navigation, Baeyesian and Kalman Filtering, Camera Model and Calibration, Projective Geometry, Visual Perception features, Optical Flow, Pose Estimation, 3D Velocities, Basics of Machine Learning, Structure from Motion, Visual Odometry, and Recognition and Learning. There are two examinations, 3 projects in multiple phases, and two homeworks. The class uses robots, mobile platforms with sensors and effectors. Drone experiments are done in simulation or in the Iribe Drone Lab, space permitting. 
Prerequisites
For RAS minor students: Linear Algebra (MATH240 or MATH461) and ENEE467
For non-minor CS students: CMSC420
Restriction: Must be in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems minor; or permission of department.
Offered Spring semester (year 2)

Section 0201- Lec TuTh 2:00-2:50pm, Lab M 2:00-4:50pm

Section 0202- Lec TuTh 2:00-2:50pm, Lab M 9:00-11:50am  

MATH240 Introduction to Linear Algebra
MATH461 Linear Algebra for Scientists and Engineers
MATH 340 Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra & Differential Equations I (Honors)
MATH 341 Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra & Differential Equations II (Honors)
ENEE 290 Introduction to Differential Equations and Linear Algebra for Engineers

NOTE: The linear algebra requirement must be completed prior to enrollment in CMSC477.

We will be waiving the MATH 461 Linear Algebra for Scientists and Engineers requirement in special cases.


Take at least TWO of the following technical electives:

● ENES467 Engineering for Social Change
● ENME400 Machine Design
● ENME410 Design Optimization
● ENME461 Control Systems Lab
● ENME413 Bio-Inspired Robotics
● ENME444 Assistive Robotics
● ENME476 MEMS
● ENME441 Mechatronics and the Internet of Things
● ENME467 Engineering for Social Change
● ENME435 Remote Sensing Instrumentation
● CMSC421 Intro to AI
● CMSC422 Intro to Machine Learning
● CMSC426 Image Processing
● CMSC427 Computer Graphics
● CMSC451 Design and Analysis of Algorithms
● CMSC498E Selected Topics in Computer Science; Robotics
● ENEE440 Microprocessors
● ENEE460 Control Systems
● ENEE461 Control Systems Lab
● ENEE425 Digital Signal Processing
● ENEE408I Capstone Autonomous Robotics
● ENAE380 Flight Software Systems
● ENAE441 Space Navigation and Guidance
● ENAE403 Dynamics of Flight
● ENAE432 Control of Aerospace Systems
● ENAE488O Topics in Aerospace Engineering; Introduction to Autonomous Multi-Robot Swarms
 

Top