ME 601 Advanced Robotics
A bipedal robot balancing using proprioceptive sensing and feedback control[ME 601 Advanced Robotics] is a new course designed for entry-level graduate students who are interested in learning advanced techanical contents on robot motion from model-based perspectives. We will focus on four core aspects:
- Modeling of robot motion: physics and computational models,
- Control of robot motion: nonlinear and optimization-based control,
- Planning of robot motion: optimization-based and sampling-based planning,
- Estimation of robot motion: filter based estimation.
This course can be used for course requirement at 700 level. There will be no future offerings of ME 601.
2025 Fall
Syllabus
Details subject to change. Refer to the annoucements in Canvas or the schedule below.
Important Information
- Canvas: https://canvas.wisc.edu/courses/468819
- Piazza: https://piazza.com/wisc/fall2025/me601
- Zoom: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/8909032411 (for guest lectures & office hours)
- NotebookLM Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL24pMHYPSbDQfb7gcY9jZzEoQDqgnlER_&si=VyHOGN_Bl8oBcqle
Time: Monday & Wednesday, 4:00-5:15pm
Location: ME 1143
Teaching Assistant
PhD Student: Jiarong Kang
Email: kang248@wisc.edu
Office hour: Wednesday 1-2pm.
Location: ECB 1025
Materials
- Slides: The slides are distributed over Canvas.
- Preview Videos: For each lecture, the instructor will generate a short overview video using NotebookLM to introduce the materials before the lecture. The videos use layman’s languages to convey the general ideas of the content. The students are expected to watch the short video prior to coming to the lectures; yet, the students need to come to the lectures to learn the real materials. The video can be found in this Youtube Playlist.
- Recorded Lectures: The lectures are recorded and will be available upon request.
Course Schedule (2025 Fall)
| Chapter | Week | Date | Day | Lecture Topics | Logistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modeling | 1 | 9/3/2025 | W | Intro to Robotic Systems | |
| 2 | 9/8/2025 | M | Review: Robot Kinematics | ||
| 9/10/2025 | W | Review: Robot Dynamics | Mini-Proj 1 out | ||
| 3 | 9/15/2025 | M | Integrators and Difference Equation | ||
| 9/17/2025 | W | Constrained Dynamics, Hybrid Dynamics | |||
| 4 | 9/22/2025 | M | Contact Modeling and Simulation | ||
| 9/24/2025 | W | Equilibriums, Stability & Linearization | Mini-Proj 1 Due | ||
| Control | 5 | 9/29/2025 | M | Lyapunov Analysis | Mini-Proj 2 out |
| 10/1/2025 | W | Control Basics: Feedback Systems & Linear Controls | |||
| 6 | 10/6/2025 | M | Feedback Linearization | ||
| 10/8/2025 | W | Feedback Linearization, CLF | Proj Proposal Due | ||
| 7 | 10/13/2025 | M | CLF-QP, QP based Control | ||
| 10/15/2025 | W | LQRs, Optimal Control | |||
| 8 | 10/20/2025 | M | Trajectory Optimization | Mini-Proj 2 Due | |
| Mid-term | 10/22/2025 | W | Mid-term | ||
| 9 | 10/27/2025 | M | Mid-term Solution Explanation (Jiarong) | ||
| Estimation | 10/29/2025 | W | Sensors & State Estimation | Mini-Proj 3 out | |
| 10 | 11/3/2025 | M | Probability Basics, Bayes Filter | ||
| 11/5/2025 | W | Kalman Filter, and EFK | |||
| 11 | 11/10/2025 | M | UKF, Particle Filter, & Optimization-based Approaches | ||
| 11/12/2025 | W | Guest Lecture: Dr. Lu Gan (Gatech) on robot perception | |||
| Planning | 12 | 11/17/2025 | M | Motion Planning, Graphs & Trees, Search | Mini-Proj 3 Due |
| 11/19/2025 | W | Sampling based methods: PRM & RRT | |||
| 13 | 11/24/2025 | M | Planning with Dynamics | ||
| 11/26/2025 | W | Planning with Contact | |||
| 14 | 12/1/2025 | M | Guest Lecture: Dr. Tao Pang (BDAI) on robot planning | ||
| 12/3/2025 | W | Guest Lecture: Dr. Chen Wang (UB) on robot learning | |||
| Project | 15 | 12/6/2025 | M | Final Presentation | |
| 12/10/2025 | W | Final Presentation | Proj. Report Due |
Previous Offerings
Xiaobin Xiong 熊晓滨
Lab Lead
Prof. Xiong is a full-stack roboticist who develop rigorous theories for practical applications.