Courses Offered

MECH541 Kinematic Synthesis	3 credits
Prerequisite: MECH 309 or permission of the instructor.
Outline of kinematic synthesis and its applications. Degree of freedom, kinematic pairs and bonds. Function-generation problems: Synthesis matrix, transmission quality, six-bar linkages. Rigid-body guidance problem: Planar and spherical Burmester problem; centre-point and circle-point curves. Path generation problem and planar, spherical and spatial coupler curves. Cam mechanisms.

MECH572 Introduction to Robotics	3 credits
Prerequisite (Undergraduate): (MATH 266 or MATH 271) and MECH 220 or permission of the instructor. Restriction: Not open to students who have taken MECH 573
Overview of the field of robotics. Kinematics, statics, singularity analysis and workspace of serial robots with decoupled architecture. Direct and inverse kinematics and dynamics. Algorithms for manipulator kinematics and dynamics.

MECH573 Mechanics of Robotic Systems	3 credits
Prerequisite: MECH 309 or permission of the instructor.
Numerical methods for the kinematic inversion of serial manipulators. The handling of redundancies and singularities. Kinematics and dynamics of parallel manipulators, manipulator performance evaluation and optimization, multifingered hand grasping and manipulation, robot compliant and constrained motion. Obstacle avoidance.

MECH577 Optimum Design	3 credits
Prerequisite: MECH 309 or permission of the instructor.
The role of optimization within the design process: Design methodology and philosophy. Constrained optimization: The Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Techniques of linear and non-linear programming. The simplex and the complex methods. Sensitivity of the design to manufacturing errors. Robustness of the design to manufacturing and operation errors.

MECH593 Design Theory and Methodology	3 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
The design process in its entirety, from problem definition to conceptualization to embodiment and realization, in a discipline-independent framework, with the purpose of gaining insight into the process from the most general viewpoint.