ROB 501: Mathematics for Robotics, is a graduate-level course at the University of Michigan that introduces applied mathematics for robotics engineers.

Topics include vector spaces, orthogonal bases, projection theorem, least squares, matrix factorizations, Kalman filter and underlying probabilistic concepts, norms, convergent sequences, contraction mappings, Newton Raphson algorithm, local vs global convergence in nonlinear optimization, convexity, linear and quadratic programs.

This offering of the course is from Fall 2018.

It is assumed that students know basic matrix algebra, such as how to multiply and invert matrices, what is the rank of a matrix, and how to compute eigenvectors; know how to compute means and variances given a density of a continuous random variable, and conditional probability and how to compute it; know vector calculus and will review how to compute gradients of functions and what is the method of Lagrange multipliers; simple properties of complex numbers; and how to use MATLAB, including plotting, various types of multiplication, such as * vs .* (star vs dot star), writing a for loop, or finding help.

All lecture videos are available on YouTube:
ROB 501 Fall 2018 videos

Also, lecture notes and handouts are available.

Recitation questions and answers are both available.

A more detailed course plan is available.

• Jessy Grizzle, Director, Michigan Robotics
• Nils Smit-Anseeuw

• University of Michigan Robotics
• Michigan Robotics Twitter
• Michigan Robotics Instagram