24-760   Robot Dynamics and Analysis

This course covers the dynamics of robotic systems with a focus on the mathematical structure of the dynamics and numerical analysis. Topics will start by reintroducing basic kinematics and dynamics in a more formal mathematical framework before moving on to contact conditions, friction, terramechanics, hybrid dynamical systems, timestepping simulation, and contact invariant optimization. After the course students will be able to write simulation and optimization methods for analyzing robotic systems. Students should have taken a prior course in dynamics, and be comfortable with linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and programming in Matlab.