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Sessions

Resources

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Instructor: Prof. John Wen

Office Hour: T/W 2-3

Office: CII 8005

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://john-wen.com

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Teaching Assistant: Jushan Chen [email protected]

Office Hour: M/Th 10-11, Meeting Space Q/A Database

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Course Information:

Course Title: Introduction to Robotics

Course Number: ROBT 1010

Credit Hours: 4

Semester/Year: Fall 2026

Meeting Days: M/Th 12:00-1:50

Room Location: JEC 4201

Course Website: https://rpi-robotics.notion.site/robt-1010

Gradescope: https://www.gradescope.com/courses/1334466

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Course Format

• 28 lecture/activity sessions (roughly 2 per week)
• Lecture (~1 hr) + Lab Activities (~1 hr) in each session
• Team-based project using Elegoo Smart Car v4
• Regular assignments
• Regular portfolio updates with reflection
• Programming Background: None required (you will learn MATLAB)
• Mathematics Background: Basic algebra and trigonometry (we will cover vector and matrix algebra) </aside>

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Course Description

This course introduces the fundamentals of robotics, providing students with a broad understanding of how robots sense, think, and act, and how their mechanical structures support these functions. Topics include the history and applications of robotics, robot subsystems (sensing, computation, actuation), statics and structural analysis of robotic systems, basic kinematics, control principles, perception, and autonomous decision-making.

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Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this course satisfactorily will be able to:

1. Implement and integrate simple control and perception methods to achieve desired robot behaviors.
2. Analyze and model robot motion, structure, and actuation using basic kinematics and statics.
3. Analyze basic electrical components and circuits in a robotic system.
4. Identify and articulate robot types, functions, and applications, including societal, ethical, and safety considerations. </aside>

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Performance Assessment

Notion Notebook

See Notion Portfolio Guide to get started. There will be a suggested reflection question in every session (organized as a Notion database). You will submit the link to the reflection page on the Gradescope before the next session.

Elegoo Smart Car

An Elegoo Smart Car will be assigned to each two-person team. The smart car will be used throughout the course to guide the course coverage. The smart car will also be used for the final project.

Elegoo Smart Car Resources

Lab Notebook

Each session will have a lab session and a corresponding entry in the lab notebook (organized as a Notion database). You will submit the link to the reflection page on the Gradescope before the next session.

Assignments

Short assignments will be posted and due on Gradescope regularly.

Final Project

Each student will be assigned to a two-person team to work with an Elegoo Smart Car v4 throughout the course and for the final project. Project

Quizzes

There are three in-class quizzes in the course, focusing on different parts of the coverage.

Grade Composition

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Course Policies

Syllabus or Course Changes

The outline of topics and assignments may be subject to change. All changes will be communicated as soon as possible. Any concerns should be addressed to the instructor as soon as possible.

Attendance

Attendance is expected in every class period, unless previously discussed with the instructor, and if necessary, officially documented by the Student Experience office (4th floor, Academy Hall).

Academic Accommodations

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute strives to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers based on a disability, please reach out to Disability Services immediately to discuss your options. To establish reasonable accommodations, please register with The Office of Disability Services for Students as soon as possible to discuss your accommodations so that they may be implemented in a timely fashion. DSS contact information: [email protected]; +1-518-276- 8197; 4226 Academy Hall. Disability Services for Students

Support Services

**RPInfo** - contains various resource links for students, academic resources, support services, and safety & emergency preparedness.

| Academic Assistance | Accommodations Executive Functioning Success Coaching | 518.276.2231 | https://studenthealth.rpi.edu/list-services/disability- student-services | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Tutoring Success Coaching | 518.276.6269 | https://success.studentlife.rpi.edu | | | Student Health & Wellness | Counseling Center | 518.276.6479 | https://studenthealth.rpi.edu/list-services/counseling- center | | | | Mantra Health (after hours counseling & wellness support) | 518-276-8888 | http://mantrahealth.com/RPI | | | | Student Health Center | 518.276.6287 | https://studenthealth.rpi.edu/list-services/student- health-center | | | Student Support Services & Conduct | Dean of Students Office | 518.276.6266 | https://doso.rpi.edu/ | | | RPI Info | Central Directory for RPI Services | | https://info.rpi.edu | | | DOTCIO (IT Services) | Help Desk | 518.276.7777 | Submit a Help Desk ticket: https://itssc.rpi.edu/hc/en-us | |

Statement of Academic Integrity

Student-teacher relationships are built on trust. For example, students must trust that teachers have made appropriate decisions about the structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers must trust that the assignments that students turn in are their own. Acts that violate this trust undermine the educational process.

The Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities and Graduate Student Supplement define various forms of Academic Dishonesty. Familiarize yourself with these definitions. In this class, all assignments that are turned in for a grade must represent the student’s own work.

Relevant academic integrity violations to emphasize include:

• Unallowed Collaboration: Collaboration is defined as deliberately facilitating an act of academic dishonesty in any way or form; for example, allowing another student to observe an exam paper or allowing another student to ”recycle” one’s old term paper or using one another’s work in a paper or lab report without citing it as another’s work.
• Copying: Copying is defined as obtaining information pertaining to a graded exercise by deliberately observing the paper of another student; for example, noting which alternative a neighboring student has circled on a multiple-choice exam.
• Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as representing the work or words of another as one’s own through the omission of acknowledgment or reference. Examples include using sentences verbatim from a published source in a term paper without appropriate referencing, or presenting as one’s own the detailed argument of a published source, or presenting as one’s own electronically or digitally enhanced graphic representations from any form of media. Homework, quizzes, and exam submissions must represent the student’s own work. In cases where help was received or given, a notation should be included to indicate the collaboration.
• Usage of materials (books, internet sites, etc.) outside the listed resources should be cited.
• Evidence of academic dishonesty will result in a zero for the associate assignment and a report to the Dean of Students for possible additional actions.

AI Tool Usage

AI tools can be useful for helping to understand concepts or re-word questions for possible clarification. Usage of AI tools to complete labs, assignments, or projects must be acknowledged. Direct copying of the outputs is not allowed. Submissions must be rewritten in your own words.

AI tools may not be used to complete quizzes or exams. Use of AI tools to complete quizzes or exams will result in a zero for that exam.

Repeated violation will result in a report of academic dishonesty to the Dean of Students for possible additional actions.

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Safety Considerations for Assembling and Operating the Smart Car