Interdisciplinary Dual Degree in Robotics

(ID-DD-Robotics)
The Interdisciplinary Dual Degree programme in Robotics is proposed to nurture and
develop the next-generation professionals in the area of robotics who can contribute in the
design, development, and implementation of robotic systems in the industry and help the
industry to improve their productivity, leading to the overall economic growth of the country. IIT
Madras has faculty working in the area of robotics spread across various departments. Since no
single department has the critical mass to offer a dual degree program in Robotics, an
interdisciplinary dual degree program is proposed. The dual degree program in Robotics will be
having its focus on Design, Analysis, and Application development (new system development)
and the curriculum has been developed with this focus.

Learning Outcomes:

Students graduating with a dual degree in Robotics shall be capable of understanding

and analyzing the following:
1. Basic robotic technologies used across various applications
2. Kinematics, dynamics, and control of Industrial and field/service robots
3. Sensing, perception, planning, and control applied to autonomous robots
4. Application of Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks and Reinforcement
learning in Robotics
5. Hardware systems and controllers used in robotics
6. Design of robotic systems for new applications

Who offers the programme?

The ID-DD programme is offered by faculty from the departments of Aerospace Engineering,
Applied Mechanics, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering,
Engineering Design, Mechanical Engineering and Ocean Engineering. The true interdisciplinary
nature of Robotics is reflected in the joint programme collectively offered by faculty from various
Depts.

Who can enrol in this programme?

A B. Tech student or a Dual Degree student of IIT Madras in any discipline (except biosciences) is
eligible to upgrade/opt for this programme provided the student has a CGPA of 8.0 or above up
to 5th semester. Total number of seats will be fixed at 25 and allocation of dual degree
specialization and award of the degree will be governed by the rules of the Institute.

What is the curriculum?

ID-DD-Robotics has a very flexible curriculum. The programme spans a period of five semesters
of the five-year dual degree programme. There will be a bridge course covering the basics of
electrical, mechanical, and computer science fundamentals applicable to robotics. This course will
ensure that the students who enters into this specialisation from different streams have the basic
understanding of robotics. The curriculum also allows short term (1-3 months)/ long term (up to
6 months) internships with potential companies / research organizations.

In tune with the overall structure of the dual degree program being offered in the Institute, the
number of courses to be offered and the credit distribution are as follows:
Total Credits required: 155 to 160
No. of PMT CORE courses to be offered: 3 (33 credits)
No. of electives to be offered: 4 ( 36±2 credits)
No. of labs. to be offered: 1 ( 6 credits)
Project work/internship 1 (85 credits)
Total credits for the ID-DD specialization: 160

Interdisciplinary DD in Robotics -course curriculum

Sl.
Course No Course Name L T E P O C
No
Semester 6
1 ID6040 Core 1: Introduction to Robotics 4 0 0 0 8 12
Total credits 12
Semester 7
1 ED6007 Core 2: Mechanics and Control of Serial 4 0 0 0 8 12
Manipulators
Electives
Total Credits : 12
Semester 8
ID5690 Internship/Summer Project (Project I) 20
Electives
Semester 9
1 ED5315 Core 3: Field and Service Robotics 3 0 0 0 6 9
2 ID6100 Core Lab1: Robotics Laboratory 0 0 0 3 3 6
ID5691 Project II 25
Total Credits :
Semester 10
1 ID 5692 Project III 40
Total Credits :
Project: 85 credits to be completed in 8th, 9th and 10th semester
Electives: 36±2 credits to be completed from the approved list in 7th, 8th, and 9th semester

Total credits for the DD programme: 160

ELECTIVE COURSES
Electives will be offered in three baskets. Students need to choose the electives from at least two
baskets (no student will be allowed to choose all the electives from one basket). Faculty/Dept.
consent has been received for all the electives.

Basket 1
1 AS5012 Dynamics and control of rotorcraft 3 0 0 0 6 9
2 AS5040 Flight Mechanics 4 0 0 0 8 12
3 AS 5010 Aerodynamics and Aircraft Performance 3 0 0 0 6 9
4 AS5340 Advanced flight mechanics 3 0 0 0 6 9
5 AM5010 Biomechanics 3 0 0 0 6 9
 Basket 1
6 AM5190 Haptics in Biomedical Engg 3 0 0 0 6 9
7 AM5011 Virtual Reality Engg. 3 0 0 0 6 9
8 ED5314 Design, analysis and control of Robot Manipulators 3 0 0 0 6 9
9 OE 5011 Marine Robotics 3 0 0 0 6 9
10 ME7010 Microprocessor in automation 3 0 0 0 6 9
11 CE6011 Smart buildings and automation 3 0 0 0 6 9
12 ED5040 Human Anatomy Physiology and Biomechanics 4 0 0 0 8 12
13 ED5160 Automotive systems 4 0 0 0 88 12
14 OE5310 Guidance & Control of Marine Vehicles 3 0 0 0 6 9
15 ME6221 Theory of Mechanisms 3 0 0 0 6 9
16 AS5570 Principles of Guidance for Autonomous Vehicles 3 0 0 0 6 9
17 AS5545 Dynamics and Control of Spacecraft
Basket 2
1 CS5011/ Machine Learning for Computer Vision 4 0 0 0 8 12
EE5177
2 CS6380 Artificial intelligence 4 0 0 0 8 12
3 CS6700 Reinforcement learning 4 0 0 0 8 12
4 CS7015 Deep Learning 4 0 0 0 8 12

5 CS6350/ Computer Vision/ Image Signal Processing 4 0 0 0 8 12

EE5175
6 CS6777 Optimisation for computer vision applications 4 0 0 0 8 12
7 ID5030 Machine Learning for Engineering and Science 3 1 0 0 6 10
Applications
8 CS5691 Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

9 CS6910 Fundamentals of Deep Learning

Basket 3
1 EE5541 Synthesis of control systems 3 0 0 0 6 9
2 EE6417 Allied topics in control systems 3 0 0 0 6 9
3 EE6412 Optimal Control 4 0 0 0 8 12
4 EE5340 Micro-electro mechanical systems 3 0 0 0 6 9
5 EE5410 Introduction to DSP 4 0 0 0 8 12
6 EE5177/ Machine Learning for Computer Vision 4 0 0 0 8 12
CS5011
7 EE5175/ Image Signal Processing 4 0 0 0 8 12
CS6350
8 EE6415 Nonlinear Control Systems 3 0 0 0 6 9

9 ED5330 Control of Automotive Systems

Special Facility Created:

VM Thomas Robotics Research and Teaching Laboratory (Department of Engineering Design)

https://ed.iitm.ac.in/VMTRRTLab.html

Facilities:

Collaborative Robots, Mobile Manipulators, Wheeled Mobile Robots, Haptic Systems, Industrial
Robots, Modular Automation systems.
 Human-
Robot

Interaction
 Coordinating Faculty:

Asokan T (ED)
Krishna Vasudevan (EE)
Ravindran B (CS)

Contact Faculty:
Prof. Asokan T (asok@iitm.ac.in)