Robotics and Controls

The electrical engineering major with Robotics and Controls (RC) gives you the core knowledge and skills of electrical engineering with an additional emphasis on the practice of sensory feedback, geometric control, optimal control, cooperative control, planning, information processing, AI and machine learning for robotics. Completing this degree will help students acquire the fundamentals and practical skills in autonomous robotics and prepare them for a career in intelligent robotics and/or for pursuing advanced degrees in robots.

Preparing You for Success

You learn the foundation of electrical and computer engineering, with courses highlighting topics such as software, circuits, simulations and systems theory. It includes a series of robotics and controls courses that give you added knowledge in the field. These courses explore autonomous robotics, mechatronics, feedback control, cooperative control, power electronics, machine learning and computer vision, as well as hardware-software interfacing. Each year includes design projects where students explore robotics, communication, energy, wireless systems and other applications. In addition to the engineering core, you take courses outside the department to strengthen your professional skills. These may be from business, communication, marketing or other majors.

By the time you graduate, your experiences may include:

• Networking and professional development through the department’s annual job fair, the Bradley chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Robotics Club
• Research mentored by faculty
• Internship and practicum opportunities
• Design project every year
• A two-semester capstone project

Making Your Mark

Bradley’s electrical engineering degree with concentration in Robotics and Controls successfully prepares you to enter or advance in the workforce. In recent years, all electrical engineering students secured jobs or continued their education within six months of graduation. Students work as electrical engineers in autonomous divisions at places such as Caterpillar, John Deere, Hexagon Autonomoustuff and Aurora Flight Sciences. Others attended graduate schools at Carnegie Mellon University, University of California San Diego, Georgia Tech, and University of Iowa, for example.

Accreditation

Bradley's electrical engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, see https://www.abet.org for more details.

Major Requirements

Required Courses - 45 hrs.

• ECE 100: Introduction to EE: Circuits and Digital Systems Laboratory - 2 hrs.
• ECE 101: Introduction to EE: DC Circuits - 2 hrs.
• ECE 102: Introduction to EE: Digital Systems - 3 hrs.
• ECE 103: Introduction to EE: Computers and Programming - 3 hrs.
• ECE 204: AC Circuits and Introduction to Systems - 3 hrs.
• ECE 205: Microcontroller Architecture and Programming - 3 hrs.
• ECE 206: Continuous-Time Signals and Systems - 3 hrs.
• ECE 207: Simulation and Analysis for Electrical Engineers - 2 hrs.
• ECE 208: Transmission Lines and Electromagnetic Fields - 3 hrs.
• ECE 221: AC Circuits and Systems Laboratory - 2 hrs.
• ECE 301: Discrete-Time Signals and Systems - 3 hrs.
• ECE 302: Probability, Statistics, and Random Processes for EE - 3 hrs.
• ECE 303: Electronics - 3 hrs.
• ECE 322: Electronics and Interfacing Laboratory - 2 hrs.
• ECE 401: Undergraduate Design Seminar I - 1 hr.
• ECE 402: Undergraduate Design Seminar II - 1 hr.
• ECE 497: Capstone Project System Level Design - 1 hr.
• ECE 498: Senior Capstone Project I - 2 hrs.
• ECE 499: Senior Capstone Project II - 3 hrs.

Elective Courses (choose five) - 15 hrs.

Requied

• ECE 444 Introduction to Autonomous Robotics - 3 hrs.

Choose two courses below that emphasize dynamics, mechatronics, robotics and control (6 hours)

• ECE 440: Electromechanical Systems - 3 hrs.
• ECE 441: Control System Theory I - 3 hrs.
• ECE 442: Control System Theory II - 3 hrs.
• ECE 443: Cooperative Control of Multiagents - 3 hrs.
• ECE 467: Mobile Robotics Laboratory - 3 hrs.
• ECE 468: Introduction to Mechatronics - 3 hrs.
• ECE 474: Mobile Robot Navigation and Mapping - 3 hrs.

Choose two courses below that emphasize courses artificial intelligence, information processing and programming (6 hours)

• ECE 460: Digital Signal Processings - 3 hrs.
• ECE 462: Digital Image Processing - 3 hrs.
• ECE 465: Engineering Application of Machine Learning - 3 hrs.
• ECE 470: Embedded Data Structures and Object-Oriented Programming - 3 hrs.
• ECE 471: Real-time Operating Systems - 3 hrs.
• ECE 472: Embedded Microcontroller Linux - 3 hrs.
• ECE 481: Digital System: Design and Synthesis - 3 hrs.

Total Hours: 129

Students in robotics and controls concentration are recommended to complete their senior capstone project (ECE 497, ECE 498, ECE 499) in the area of Robotics and Controls.