Skip to main content

Education and Outreach

Bridging the gap between knowledge and experience with intensive training programs

PhD in Robotics-related Fields

Earn a PhD with a focus in robotics

PhD in Robotics

To conduct graduate-level study with a Center for Robotics and Biosystems faculty member, prospective students apply directly through that faculty member’s department.

Master of Science in Robotics

Prepare for an exciting career in the robotics industry

The Master of Science in Robotics program is a 12-15-month, full-time graduate program that equips students with the tools required of a robotics engineer. Designed to provide intense, hands-on training to bridge the knowledge and experience gap between an undergraduate engineering degree and a career in robotics, the program includes a broad array of concentrations including computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, and mathematics.

Learn About MSR

Undergraduate Opportunities

Study, research, create, and compete

Education and Research

Undergraduate students have the option to pursue a robotics concentration by enrolling in a core set of robotics courses, including the two-quarter Robot Design Studio. Undergraduates may also conduct research in the labs of Center faculty.

 

NU Robotics

The NU Robotics Club brings together a core community of undergraduate student builders interested in robotics. Projects range from technical research projects to start-up ideas to yearly competitions.

Design Competition

Every year teams of engineering undergraduates design, build, and program robots to compete for prizes in a spring competition. Prior to enrollment students must pass a milestone during winter quarter to be eligible to register.

National Robotics Week at the Museum of Science and Industry

Each year, students and faculty introduce their work to the public as part of this collection of events and activities at one of Chicago’s great museums.

Online Education

The faculty at the Center for Robotics and Biosystems offer online courses through Coursera, including a six-course specialization on Modern Robotics by Professor Kevin Lynch.

Learn More and Register for Our Coursera Courses

Books

Principles of Robot Motion, H. Choset, K. Lynch, et al.

Embedded Computing and Mechatronics with the PIC32 Microcontroller, K. Lynch et al. Read description

Modern Robotics, K. Lynch and F. Park. Read description

Software

Trep: Dynamic Simulation and Control

Trep is a Python module for modeling articulated rigid body mechanical systems in generalized coordinates. Trep supports basic simulation but it is primarily designed to serve as a calculation engine for analysis and optimal control algorithms that require 1st and 2nd derivatives of the system’s dynamics.

Learn more

The Digital Rat (Hartmann Group)

The Digital Rat is software from the Hartmann group that aims to enable morphologically and mechanically accurate modeling of the rat head and vibrissal (whisker) array. Our long-term goal is to develop a simulation environment that can be used to model the spatiotemporal patterns of mechanical input to vibrissae during the rat's tactile exploratory behaviors.

Learn more

Modern Robotics

The Modern Robotics code library accompanies the book "Modern Robotics:  Mechanics, Planning, and Control," by K. M. Lynch and F. C. Park.  It implements many of the most common functions in robot kinematics, dynamics, and control.  It is written in Python, MATLAB, and Mathematica to be easy to read and to reinforce the concepts in the book.

Learn more

Visit Us on YouTube

see educational and research videos ON our youtube channel

 

Award-winning Faculty

Learn with the Best

The Center for Robotics and Biosystems is proud that five of our core faculty are winners of the top teaching award at Northwestern. Mitra Hartmann, Kevin Lynch, Todd Murphey, and Michael Peshkin were awarded the Charles Deering McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence and Ed Colgate was recognized as the Alumnae of Northwestern Teaching Professor.

Back to top