Overview

This unit of study aims to provide students with an understanding of the different characteristics of robots and their relevance in the design and implementation of robot systems in manufacturing.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
02-March-2026
31-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
15-March-2026
Census date
31-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
21-April-2026
Results released date
07-July-2026

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  1. Appraise the fundamentals of robot kinematics and dynamics and calculate the same for robots with lower degrees of freedom (K3, K4, S1)
  2. Appraise robot applications in manufacturing environments based on their technical characteristics (K3, K4, K5, S1)
  3. Design robot systems for manufacturing applications that satisfy requirements in terms of safety, productivity, flexibility and sustainability (K3, K4, K5, K6, S1, S2, S3, A2, A4, A5, A6, A7)

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-Campus
Lecture		 1.00  12 weeks  1
Live Online
Lecture		 1.00  12 weeks  1
On-Campus
Class		 1.00  12 weeks  1
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning		 9.50  12 weeks  114
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Presentation Group 5-15% 2,3
Quiz 1 Individual  20-30%  2,3 
Quiz 2 Individual 20-30% 1,2,3
Project Report (Interim) Group 5-15% 2,3
Project Report (Final) Individual 20-40%  2,3 

Content

  • History of robotics
  • Industrial robot applications including robot welding
  • Industrial robots, including parallel robots and collaborative robots
  • Robot definitions, robot types, and robot architectures
  • Robot specifications such as workspace, reach, and degrees of freedom
  • Robot programming
  • Robot end-effectors, robot sensors, and robot actuators
  • Robot kinematics, including Denavit-Hartenberg parameters, the homogeneous transform, and the Jacobian matrix
  • Robot Dynamics
  • Robot path planning, robot position control, and robot force control
  • Robot safety and robot risk assessment
  • Robot statistics and trends
  • Graduate Attribute - Digital Literacies 1 - Information literacy
  • Graduate Attribute - Digital Literacies 2 - Technical literacy

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.