Cooper Union

Autonomous Mobile Robots

The objective of the course is to build a mobile robot capable of competing in a competitive robot tank battle game. This course introduces basic concepts, technologies, and limitations of autonomous mobile robots. Topics include digital and analog I/O, tactile sensing, IR sensing and range finding, light sensing, sonar, magnetic field sensing, inertia sensing, encoders, electric motor actuators, high-level microprocessor control, low-level microprocessor control, power management, and prototyping. Students will form teams to design and build autonomous mobile robots configured to compete in a singles-match game, or to perform a team-oriented task. During the semester, students are expected to demonstrate progress on the development of their robot and complete project assignments that will lead to the final competition-ready robot and accompanying quality research paper.

3 credits. Prerequisite: ME 353 or ECE 251

Course Code: ME 412

Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.
“My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”
From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.
Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.