The capstone project of the Modern Robotics specialization is on mobile manipulation: simultaneously controlling the motion of a wheeled mobile base and its robot arm to achieve a manipulation task. This project integrates several topics from the specialization, including trajectory planning, odometry for mobile robots, and feedback control. Beginning from the Modern Robotics software library provided to you (written in Python, Mathematica, and MATLAB), and software you have written for previous courses, you will develop software to plan and control the motion of a mobile manipulator to perform a pick and place task. You will test your software on the KUKA youBot, a mobile manipulator consisting of an omnidirectional mecanum-wheel mobile base, a 5-joint robot arm, and a gripper. The state-of-the-art, cross-platform V-REP robot simulator will be used to simulate the task.
This course is part of the Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control Specialization
Offered By
About this Course
Offered by

Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research and teaching university with campuses in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, and Doha, Qatar. Northwestern combines innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative environment that transcends traditional academic boundaries.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Introduction to the Capstone Project, and Milestone 1
Odometry for wheeled mobile robots and its use in a kinematic simulator for the youBot omnidirectional mobile robot with four mecanum wheels.
Milestone 2: Reference Trajectory Generation
Generating a reference trajectory in SE(3) for the end-effector of a mobile manipulator to achieve a pick-and-place task.
Milestone 3: Feedforward Control
Feedforward control of the end-effector of a mobile manipulator to drive the end-effector along a reference trajectory.
Completing the Project and Your Submission
Feedforward-plus-feedback control of the end-effector of a mobile manipulator to stabilize a reference trajectory for the end-effector.
Reviews
- 5 stars93.61%
- 4 stars6.38%
TOP REVIEWS FROM MODERN ROBOTICS, COURSE 6: CAPSTONE PROJECT, MOBILE MANIPULATION
I spent a lot time from conceptual to learn kinematics, dynamics, controls, and so on to learn and enhance my knowledge, I am so appreciate.
It was fascinating implementing what I learnt in the previous five courses into a real-life scenario.
Capstone Project taught me the most. Thank you for the great course. Would you have a advanced robotics course? I would love to take that too.
I really loved this course. Now forums are slightly active. You get a response from learners. If you are stuck don't give up keep trying you will be able to complete the project.
About the Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control Specialization
This Specialization provides a rigorous treatment of spatial motion and the dynamics of rigid bodies, employing representations from modern screw theory and the product of exponentials formula. Students with a freshman-level engineering background will quickly learn to apply these tools to analysis, planning, and control of robot motion. Students' understanding of the mathematics of robotics will be solidified by writing robotics software. Students will test their software on a free state-of-the-art cross-platform robot simulator, allowing each student to have an authentic robot programming experience with industrial robot manipulators and mobile robots without purchasing expensive robot hardware. It is highly recommended that Courses 1-6 of the Specialization are taken in order, since the material builds on itself.

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