ROB 204 is an introductory course for robotics majors that provides a foundation for designing robotic systems to address a user need with a sociotechnical context. The course combines lectures, labs, and discussions to teach and reinforce learning objectives in an equitable and experiential manner. The main learning objectives of this course are to teach students how to ideate robotic system designs, infer how a person should interact with that system and characterize their influence on its design, and assess the overall system with end users.
The first iteration of this course was offered in Fall 2022.
Labs are split into two phases––the first, which are hands-on learning activities intended to teach students about core HRI fundamentals. The second phase is a detailed usability study, where students perform stakeholder interviews to learn about the socially-engaged design. A brief description of each of these lab can be seen below.
Description: The learning objectives of this lab are to equip students with the skills necessary to design and evaluate a user interface to support a robotic task, implement different types of direct input controls for robotic systems, and investigate the role of perception in interface design.
Necessary Hardware:
- Arduino Uno
- Custom Shield
- x3 Linear Potentiometers
- x3 Rotary Encoders
- x3 Buttons
- x1 Switch
- Velcro and Base board to mount peripherals to
- 3d printed housings
Description: The goal of this lab is to teach students about non-verbal communication by implementing a posture-based control pipeline on a robot, compare and contrast the effect of adding robot control states on the system usability, and critique design decisions for a non-verbal communication strategy.
Necessary Hardware:
- Raspberry Pi
- Servo Motor
- Raspberry Pi Camera
- 3d printed housings & mounts, PVC Pipe, Board to block view
- Morse Code Sheets
Description: The main objectives of this lab are to develop a mental model of a robotic system and evaluate it, describe the importance of calibrated trust in automated systems, compare and contrast operating a robot at different levels of control, and evaluate when certain levels of control are more appropriate than others.
Necessary Hardware:
- Amazon Astro
- PVC Pipe, 3d printed parts, and Plastic Walls
Description: The objectives of these labs are for students to gather insights from stakeholder interviews, develop a problem statement to define the criteria of a satisfactory solution, create conceptual designs, and finally conduct a usability study to evaluate their designs. This sequence serves as the final project for the course.
| Week | Topic | Labs | Assignments Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Course Intro | Lab 1 - UI | – |
| Week 2 | Perception and user interfaces Scholarly articles, presentations |
Lab 2 - UI | Discussion 2 Prep; Presentations Lecture |
| Week 3 | Communication - Verbal/Non-Verbal | Lab 3 - Non-verbal | Lab 1/2; Discussion 3 Prep |
| Week 4 | Communication - Levels of Control Communication - Teleoperation |
Lab 4 - Non-verbal | Visuals Lecture |
| Week 5 | Communication - Haptics Memos |
Lab 5 - Astro | Lab 3/4; Discussion 4 |
| Week 6 | Mental models, Decision Making Situation Awareness, Automation, Trust |
Lab 6 - Astro | – |
| Week 7 | Situation Awareness, Automation, Trust Library research and Source use |
Lab 7 - Stakeholder Interviews | Lab/Discussion 5/6 |
| Week 8 | Project Management Exam 1 |
Lab 8 - Stakeholder Interviews | Lab/Discussion 7 (Thu); Lab 8 (Fri) |
| Week 9 | Socially Engaged Design Problem Statements & Requirements |
Lab 9 - Problem Statements and Requirements | – |
| Week 10 | Robot embodiments and Design Ideation Usefulness and Usability |
Lab 10 - Design Ideation | Lab/Discussion 9; Source Use Lecture |
| Week 11 | Usefulness and Usability User Interface Design |
Lab 11 - Usability Study | Lab/Discussion 10 |
| Week 12 | Team Meetings Ethics |
Lab 12 - Usability Study | Team Meeting Slides (Mon); Lab 11 (Thu) |
| Week 13 | Risk Assessment Hot Topics in HRI |
Lab 13 - Final Project Work | – |
| Week 14 | Final Project Memo Workshop Final Project Presentation Workshop |
Lab 14 - Final Project Work | Final Presentations & Report; Discussion 14 (Fri) |
| Week 15 | Exam 2 Course Reflection & Evals |
– | Team Reflection (Mon) |
- Leia Stirling, Associate Professor, U-M
- Mark Draelos, Assistant Professor, U-M
- Connor Williams
- Miranda Mittleman
- Thor Helgeson
- Chancellor Day
- Joseph Fedoronko
- Michael Robinson
- Skye Krzykwa