6.270 is a hands-on, learn-by-doing class, in which participants design and build a robot that will play in a competition at the end of January. The goal for the students is to design a machine that will be able to navigate its way around the playing surface, recognize other opponents, and manipulate game objects. Unlike the machines in Introduction to Design (2.70), 6.270 robots are totally autonomous, so once a round begins, there is no human intervention. The goal of 6.270 is to teach students about robotic design by giving them the hardware, software, and information they need to design, build, and debug their own robot.

Introduction to microelectromechanical devices (MEMS). Material properties, microfabrication technologies, structural behavior, piezoresistive and capacitive sensing, electrostatic actuation, fluid damping, noise, amplifiers, and feedback systems. Student teams design microsystems (sensors, electronics, and feedback) to meet a set of specifications (sensitivity, frequency response, linearity) using a realistic microfabrication process. Emphasis on modeling and simulation in the design process.

A two-semester subject sequence (of which this is the first half) that demonstrates the design process through its application to a working model-scale ocean system. Emphasis is on carrying out the design and implementation of the system, including demonstration of its operation in the marine environment. Spring Term: Introduction to the design process and its application to ocean engineering. Design project with students developing system definition and completing its preliminary design. Students are instructed in the design process, embedded systems programming and interfacing techniques, sensors, actuators, and the control of marine systems. Communications skills are honed through written and oral reports and engineering ethics are discussed. Fall Term: Students work as a group to design, plan, construct, test, and operate the model-scale ocean system defined in 13.017. Special emphasis is placed on testing the system in the marine environment and analyzing its performance in relation to the original system specification. The social aspects of engineering are discussed including group dynamics and time management. The specific design project varies from year to year and is announced to the students on the first day of class in 13.017.

A two-semester subject sequence (of which this is the first half) that demonstrates the design process through its application to a working model-scale ocean system. Emphasis is on carrying out the design and implementation of the system, including demonstration of its operation in the marine environment. Spring Term: Introduction to the design process and its application to ocean engineering. Design project with students developing system definition and completing its preliminary design. Students are instructed in the design process, embedded systems programming and interfacing techniques, sensors, actuators, and the control of marine systems. Communications skills are honed through written and oral reports and engineering ethics are discussed. Fall Term: Students work as a group to design, plan, construct, test, and operate the model-scale ocean system defined in 13.017. Special emphasis is placed on testing the system in the marine environment and analyzing its performance in relation to the original system specification. The social aspects of engineering are discussed including group dynamics and time management. The specific design project varies from year to year and is announced to the students on the first day of class in 13.017.

Digital Anthropology is a Spring 2003 applied social science and media arts seminar, surveying the blossoming arena of digital-artifact enabled experimental sociology/anthropology. We will emphasize on both (a) Technology Testbeds – systematically deploying research lab prototypes and corporate pre-production products in a sample human organizational population and carefully observing the social consequences, and (b) Sociometrics – using digital artifacts to better observe and measure the complex social reality of interesting human systems.

6.641 examines electric and magnetic quasistatic forms of Maxwell's equations applied to dielectric, conduction, and magnetization boundary value problems. Topics covered include: electromagnetic forces, force densities, and stress tensors, including magnetization and polarization; thermodynamics of electromagnetic fields, equations of motion, and energy conservation; applications to synchronous, induction, and commutator machines; sensors and transducers; microelectromechanical systems; propagation and stability of electromechanical waves; and charge transport phenomena.

"This course examines electric and magnetic quasistatic forms of Maxwell's equations applied to dielectric, conduction, and magnetization boundary value problems. Topics covered include: electromagnetic forces, force densities, and stress tensors, including magnetization and polarization; thermodynamics of electromagnetic fields, equations of motion, and energy conservation; applications to synchronous, induction, and commutator machines; sensors and transducers; microelectromechanical systems; propagation and stability of electromechanical waves; and charge transport phenomena. Acknowledgments The instructor would like to thank Thomas Larsen and Matthew Pegler for transcribing into LaTeX the homework problems, homework solutions, and exam solutions."

Electromagnetic phenomena are explored in modern applications including wireless communications, circuits, computer interconnects and peripherals, optical fiber links and components, microwave communications and radar, antennas, sensors, micro-electromechanical systems, and power generation and transmission. Fundamentals include quasistatic and dynamic solutions to Maxwell's equations; waves, radiation, and diffraction; coupling to media and structures; guided and unguided waves; resonance; and forces, power, and energy.

Electromagnetic phenomena are explored in modern applications including wireless communications, circuits, computer interconnects and peripherals, optical fiber links and components, microwave communications and radar, antennas, sensors, micro-electromechanical systems, and power generation and transmission. Fundamentals include quasistatic and dynamic solutions to Maxwell's equations; waves, radiation, and diffraction; coupling to media and structures; guided and unguided waves; resonance; and forces, power, and energy.

"This course explores electromagnetic phenomena in modern applications, including wireless and optical communications, circuits, computer interconnects and peripherals, microwave communications and radar, antennas, sensors, micro-electromechanical systems, and power generation and transmission. Fundamentals include quasistatic and dynamic solutions to Maxwell's equations; waves, radiation, and diffraction; coupling to media and structures; guided waves; resonance; acoustic analogs; and forces, power, and energy."

Electrical, optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties of metals, semiconductors, ceramics and polymers. Discussion of roles of bonding, structure (crystalline, defect, energy band and microstructure) and composition in influencing and controlling physical properties. Case studies drawn from a variety of applications including semiconductor diodes, optical detectors, sensors, thin films, biomaterials, composites, and cellular materials.

Lego Robotics uses Legos as a fun tool to explore robotics, mechanical systems, electronics, and programming. This seminar is primarily a lab experience which provides students with resources to design, build, and program functional robots constructed from Legos and a few other parts such as motors and sensors.

Phenomenology of mechanical behavior of materials at the macroscopic level. Relationship of mechanical behavior to material structure and mechanisms of deformation and failure. Topics include: elasticity, viscoelasticity, plasticity, creep, fracture, and fatigue. Case studies and examples drawn from a variety of classes of materials including: metals, ceramics, polymers, thin films, composites, and cellular materials.

You can build a wide range of practical electronic devices if you understand a few basic electronics concepts and follow some simple rules. These devices include light-activated and sound-activated toys and appliances, remote controls, timers and clocks, and motorized devices. The subject begins with an overview of the fundamental concepts, followed by a series of laboratory exercises that demonstrate the basic rules, and a final project.

This project-based course will explore the future of textiles, focusing particularly on blending rich crafting traditions with new technologies. Topics will include textile-based electronics, textile fabrication, algorithmic pattern design, and composites. We will experiment with a wide range of fibers, yarns, and fabrics including traditional materials like wool and cotton as well as metal fibers and yarns, fusible plastics, papers, and resins. We will also explore techniques like felting, laser cutting, CNC knitting, digital printing, and CNC embroidery. Students will complete weekly hands-on assignments and a final project.

Younger students can follow Echo the Bat as he travels through Arizona on an adventure to his winter hibernaculum. They will also learn how bats use echolocation to catch insects, then about remote sensing by satellites and the use of satellite imagery.