Course syllabus
Course PM Spring 2026
MPR213 Robotics and manufacturing automation (7.5 hp)
Course is offered by the department of Industrial and Materials Science
Contact details
Course Examiner: Henrik Kihlman, phone: 0731558102, henrik.kihlman@chalmers.se
Robot Laboratory: Per Nyqvist, phone: 7723597, per.nyqvist@chalmers.se
Content
Industrial robots become better, faster and cheaper and they can do much more than hard labor like spot welding which they traditionally are used for. They can take on more “human” capabilities and traits such as sensing, dexterity, memory and trainability. This explains why they can take on more jobs, such as refined picking and packaging, testing, inspecting products or assembling of minute electronics. Also, a new generation of collaborative robots enables the robots to leave their cages and literally work hand-in-hand with human workers who train them through physical demonstration.
This course will introduce the science of industrial robotics, starting from a basic level, but also give examples on ongoing research in the area. Furthermore, company visits and guest lecturers will share examples on the challenges to deploy and use robots in industry. Lab exercises will serve as practical training how to work with and prepare the physical robots for their missions. One of the sciences used to control and analyze robots is the theory of kinematics and this will be covered in lectures as well as lab exercises.
The course consists of six parts:
- Robot theory divided into five parts
- Introduction to industrial robots
- Introduction to Virtual Production
- Robot simulation and programming
- Robot applications
- Sensor-integrated robotics
- Fixtures
- AI in Robotics
- Problem solving with lectures and exercises on robot kinematics
- Practical laboratory work, offline programming, simulation and online verification
- Quizzes to be submitted 26/5
- Project assignment, to be submitted 26/5
- Written exam on theory
Schedule
TimeEdit (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Links to an external site.
Examination form
Written examination and lab exercises. The grades on exam are: fail, 3, 4 and 5.
The written examination consists of totally 60 points. The exam questions will be based on all lectures and literature found on this portal. There will be questions based on the theoretical parts, guest lectures and kinematics calculations.
Grades 30-39p = 3 40-49p = 4 50-60p = 5
Lab 5.1, Lab 5.2 and Lab 5.6 are mandatory for the course
Project assignment
One week work effort
Project work in teams 2-6 persons:
- Collect and understand information from a topic in “Project topics”
- Main work - Analysis, Experiments/Tests, Development/Improvement (loop if time permits)
- Report and presentation for supervisor or class (TBD)
Project topics (tentativ)
- PSL robot station - Car design and 3D print
- PSL robot station - Equipment design and function
- PSL robot station – Offline programming and simulation in RS
- PSL robot station – Deployment and production
- Yumi
- Virtual Design of Kinematics in RobotStudio
- Virtual Commissioning– PLCSIM Advanced and RobotStudio
- IBM robot station - IBM simulator in RS 2025
- IBM robot station - Improve installation
- Robotstudio3D Printing PowerPac
- Build robot cell in Process Simulate
- Build robot cell in 3DEXPERIENCE
XX. Your own suggestion - check with Henrik/Per/Omkar
Quizzes
Several lecture topics will have a corresponding Quiz connected to it. Quiz question may be on topics explained verbally and not in the lecture slides. Each Quiz is released just after the corresponding lecture. It will have 3 alternative answers to select, where only one alternative is correct. You must have full score on all Quizzes to be approved in the course. Deadline for all Quizzes are 2026-05-26.
Learning objectives
After completion of this course, the student should be able to:
|
L1 |
Understand the architecture of a standard industrial robot and to explain the advantages and disadvantages to other more unconventional robot architectures. |
|
L2 |
Categorize the abstraction levels of programming robots |
|
L3 |
Demonstrate the use of 3D-simulation tools for industrial robots and explain and apply the method to do offline programming of robots. |
|
L4 |
Summarize and compare different sensor usage to improve the performance of industrial robotics in more advanced automation processes. |
|
L5 |
Interpret and solve kinematic equations to explain how a robot controller calculates robot movements. |
|
L6 |
Understand the concept of path planning in order to populate collision free robot trajectories in order to shorten lead-time in industrial automation projects. |
|
L7 |
Formulate the challenges and advantages in using simulation and offline programming systems and compare the differences using OLP systems at SME and OEM companies. |
|
L8 |
Summarize and justify the use of flexible fixtures compared to today’s dedicated fixtures. |
|
L9 |
Summarize the key activities to successfully implement robot projects in industry. |
|
L10 |
Explain the potential and challenges in using human collaborative robots. |
|
L11 |
Understand and explain the science of parallel kinematic robots. |
|
L12 |
Understand the basics of Collaborative Robotics and Identify key differences between Industrial Robots and Collaborative Robots |
|
L13 |
Demonstrate basic programming skills with Cobots |
|
L14 |
Identify and analyze important aspects of human-robot collaboration |
These learning objective points will be derived into the course schedule matrix further in this PM.
Some questions (Q) to be answered during lectures. The questions should be found in the schedule:
|
Q1 |
What will this course cover, how is it structured and how will you be examined? |
|
Q2 |
What is the history of robotics and what is an industrial robot? |
|
Q3 |
What will the labs be about and how are they organized? |
|
Q4 |
What is the state-of-the art in robot programming and offline programming? |
|
Q5 |
How does a Virtual Robotic process work and what are the abstraction levels of programming? |
|
Q6 |
What are the most common robot applications today? |
|
Q7 |
What are the limitations in industrial robots today and how can they be improved? |
|
Q8 |
What external sensors are used with robotics and how can they be used to improve the robots performance? |
|
Q9 |
What is the homogeneous transformation matrix? |
|
Q10 |
How can Virtual Robotics benefit from flexible fixtures? |
|
Q11 |
How can Fixture Design Configurators improve productivity? |
|
Q12 |
What is automatic path planning and how does it work using IPS? |
|
Q13 |
How will this course utilize IPS? |
|
Q14 |
How do path planning algorithms work in theory? |
|
Q15 |
How does kinematics work in a robot, which is positioned statically? |
|
Q16 |
How can the Jacobian matrix be used to describe the motion of a robot? |
|
Q17 |
How are metrology arms and trackers used to calibrate robot cells? |
|
Q18 |
How metrology arms are used to calibrate robot TCP for robot tools? |
|
Q19 |
How can the surrounding equipment be calibrated using laser scanners to generate a complete simulation environment? |
|
Q20 |
How is the role of Robotic Simulation changed in the scope of a corporate “Digital Twin” of the entire manufacturing process? |
|
Q21 |
How does Volvo Cars apply Virtual Robotics in their processes and what is VOLP? |
|
Q22 |
What is industry 4.0, smart factories, digitalization from a production perspective? |
|
Q23 |
How can cameras be used to generate 3D data? |
|
Q24 |
What is parallel kinematics? |
|
Q25 |
How does kinematics work for parallel kinematic devices? |
|
Q26 |
How can kinematics of robots be designed using a 3D virtual simulation software systems? |
|
Q27 |
How can the 3D Simulation System DELMIA be used to create robot kinematics? |
|
Q28 |
What are the key factors to succeed in implementing industrial robots? |
|
Q29 |
Which are the major cost drivers in implementing industrial robots? |
|
Q30 |
What are the biggest challenges at Dassault Systemés in robotics the next 10 years? |
|
Q31 |
What is the advantages and risks of using collaborative robots? |
Course Schedule
|
Week |
Day |
Date |
Time |
Lecturer |
Content |
Literature |
Learning Objectives |
Review Questions |
|
W13 |
Tue |
24/3 |
13-14 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Course Introduction |
|
|
Q1 |
|
|
Tue |
24/3 |
14-16 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Robot Theory - Introduction to Robotics |
Ch1, Ch2, Ch3 | L1 |
Q2 |
|
|
Tue |
24/3 |
16-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Projects Lab Exercises |
|
|
Q3 |
|
|
Thu |
26/3 |
13-15 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Robot Theory - Robot simulation and programming |
Ch6 |
L2 |
Q4, Q5 |
|
|
Thu |
26/3 | 15-17 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Robot Theory - Robot Applications and market Trends |
Ch5, Ch7, Ch8, Ch9, Ch11 | L4, L9 | Q6 |
|
|
Fri |
27/3 |
13-17 |
Self studies Planning/Preparation |
Lab Session: IBM (All) Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
W14 |
Mon |
30/3 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: IBM Priority Group 1-5 Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue |
31/3 |
13-15 |
Per Nyqvist |
Object Location |
4.2, 4.10 |
L5 |
Q9 |
|
|
Tue |
31/3 |
15-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Manipulator Position |
4.5, 4.10 |
L5 |
Q15 |
|
|
Wed |
1/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: IBM Priority Group 6-10 Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
W16 |
Mon |
13/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: IBM Priority Group 11-15 Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue |
14/4 |
13-15 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Robot Theory - Accuracy and advanced sensors |
Ch4 |
L4 |
Q7, Q8 |
|
|
Tue |
14/4 |
15-17 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Robot Theory - Flexible fixtures and design configurators |
|
L8 |
Q10 |
|
|
Wed |
15/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
16/4 |
13-17 |
Project status, review. - Project plan? - What have been done so far? - Experiments/Results/Conclusions? - What's left to do? - Need support with something? 20 min each group. Group 1 starts 13.15, next 13.35 etc |
||||
|
|
Fri |
17/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: ABB Priority Group 1-5 Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
W17 |
Mon |
20/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: ABB Priority Group 6-10 Project work (All) |
|
||
|
|
Tue |
21/4 |
13-15 |
Per Nyqvist |
Manipulator Motion |
4.8, 4.10 |
L5 |
Q16 |
|
|
Tue |
21/4 |
15-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Manipulator Motion cont. Kinematic Repetition |
4.8, 4.10 |
L5 |
Q16 |
|
Wed |
22/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: ABB Priority Group 11-15 Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
23/4 |
13-15 |
Per Nyqvist |
Parallel Kinematics |
L11 |
Q24, Q25, Q27 |
||
|
Thu |
23/4 |
15-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Kinematics support session Kinematic self training, solutions homework |
|
|
|
|
|
Fri |
24/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: PathPlanner Priority Group 1-5 Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
| W18 |
Mon |
27/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project work (All) |
|
|
|
| Tue EC |
28/4 |
13-15 |
Factory visit |
Remember to wear (or bring) long trousers. Register yourself for bus transport in one of the groups: - Factory visit Volvo Cars - Bus from Chalmers 12.30 - Factory visit Volvo Cars - Bus from Chalmers 14.30 (Compulsory) |
||||
| Tue EC |
28/4 |
15-17 |
Factory visit |
Remember to wear (or bring) long trousers. Register yourself for bus transport in one of the groups: - Factory visit Volvo Cars - Bus from Chalmers 12.30 - Factory visit Volvo Cars - Bus from Chalmers 14.30 (Compulsory) |
||||
| Wed PSL |
29/4 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: PathPlanner Priority Group 6-10 Project work (All) |
||||
|
W19 |
Mon |
4/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist |
Lab Session: PathPlanner Priority Group 11-15 Project work (All) |
|
||
|
|
Tue EC |
5/5 |
13-15 |
Johan Nordling Henrik Carlsson |
Enterprise Robotics |
2.4 |
|
Q12, Q14 |
|
|
Tue |
5/5 |
15-17 |
|
|
|
|
Q22 |
|
Wed |
6/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
7/5 |
13-14 |
Anders Leopold, Yaskawa | Robot controllers and vision integration of Motoman robots |
2.1, 2.2 |
L3, L7 |
Q20, Q21 |
|
|
|
Thu |
7/5 |
14-16 |
Hao Wang |
Cable harness assembly cobot/AI image recognition |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
7/5 |
16-17 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Demonstrating 3DExperience for Robotics and introduction to the labs in 3DExperience |
|
|
|
|
Fri |
8/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Combined support session Project work (All), kinematics, extra lab opportunity |
|
|
|
|
| W20 |
Mon |
11/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project work (All) |
|
|
|
|
Tue |
12/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project work (All) |
||||
|
|
Wed |
13/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project work (All) |
|
|
|
| W21 |
Mon |
18/5 |
13-17 |
Per Nyqvist Henrik Kihlman (zoom) |
Project final review - Experiments/Results/Conclusions? - Final things to fix? 20 min each group. Group 1 starts 13.15, next 13.35 etc |
|
|
|
|
Thu |
19/5 |
13-15 |
Omkar Salunkhe |
Intro to |
1.4 |
|
|
|
|
Thu |
19/5 |
15-17 |
Omkar Salunkhe |
Collaborative Robots (lab) (Mandatory) |
1.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Wed |
20/5 |
13-17 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Lab Group 1-8 |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
21/5 |
|
Omkar Salunkhe |
Collaborative Robots (lab) (Mandatory) |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
21/5 |
|
Omkar Salunkhe |
Collaborative Robots (lab) (Mandatory) |
|
|
|
|
|
Fri |
22/5 |
13-17 |
Henrik Kihlman |
Lab Group 9-15 |
|
|
|
|
W22 |
Mon |
25/5 |
13-17 |
Henrik Kihlman |
3DExperience lab |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue |
26/5 |
13-17 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wed |
27/5 |
13-17 |
Omkar Salunkhe |
Collaborative Robots (lab) (Mandatory) |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
28/5 |
13-15 |
Robert Bohlin |
Path Planning SW |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu |
28/5 |
15-17 |
Jonas Lindgarde IFM Electronic |
Industry 4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Fri PSL |
29/5 |
13-17 |
Henrik Stranne |
Shop Floor Toolkit demo together with Hexagon |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|