Robots also referred to as Cobots or co-workers are set to emerge across various industries. The most common of these being industrial robots, working alongside humans helping to pick strawberries in farms to serving at restaurants their applications are limitless. The growth estimates of robotics are encouraging, research estimates forecast that the global industrial robotics market will reach at an astounding US$D101.75 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 11.1%. Analytics Insights brings you the top free online robotics courses in 2020, that help you learn robotics online-

Robotics Foundations I – Robot Modeling

• Offered by- FedericaX Web Learning on edX

• Length– 8 weeks at 8-10 hours per week

This two-part course explains the foundations of robotics. The first part covers robot modelling covering the scenarios of industrial robotics and advanced robotics. You will learn the fundamentals of kinematics, differential kinematics and statics, the inverse kinematics algorithms and the equations of motion of robot manipulators. The course is offered for free, you can add a verified certificate for INR 4,495.

Robotics Foundation II – Robot Control

• Offered by- FedericaX Web Learning on edX

• Length– 12 weeks at 8-16 hours per week

You will learn the trajectory planning algorithms, and joint space and operational space motion control strategies. Besides, the second part of this course will teach you the indirect and direct force control strategies and visual control technique.  This course will introduce you to parameter identification algorithms and the features of modelling and control of wheeled mobile robots. The course is offered for free; you can add a verified certificate for INR 4,495.

Robotics

• Offered by- Columbia University on edX

• Length– 10 weeks at 8-16 hours per week

Learn to represent 2D and 3D spatial relationships, homogeneous coordinates to manipulate robot arms like kinematic chains, forward and inverse kinematics, differential kinematics and navigate mobile robots including map representations and motion planning. This course will assist you to plan complete robot systems and develop present and future applications for robots. The course is offered for free; you can add a verified certificate for INR 18,653.

Mechatronics Revolution: Fundamentals and Core Concepts

• Offered by- Georgia Tech on edX

• Length– 16 weeks at 6-8 hours per week

This course lets you recognize and describe the elements of a microcontroller as well as the operating principles of motors, sensors, and circuits commonly used in mechatronic devices. You will learn to create basic programs for microcontrollers using interrupt-driven programming, design and implement microcontroller programs that read from sensors and achieve appropriate actuator commands. The course is offered for free; you can add a verified certificate for INR 11,162.

Introduction to Robotics & Autonomous Car Design

• Offered by- Udemy

• Length– 45min of on-demand video

In this course, you will learn the basics of Robotics, Computer Programming, and Electronics by experimenting with a variety of sensors, motors, and other outputs as well as the Arduino microcontroller. Finally, you will apply the knowledge learnt in Arduino robotics to build and program a two-wheeled autonomous robot. This is an introductory class and no prior knowledge of Robotics, Engineering, or Programming is required.

Robotics Specialization

• Offered by– University of Pennsylvania on Coursera

• Length– 7 months at 4 hours per week

The Introduction to Robotics Specialization introduces you to the concepts of robot flight and movement, how robots perceive their environment, and how they adjust their movements to avoid obstacles, navigate difficult terrains and accomplish complex tasks such as construction and disaster recovery. You will be exposed to real-world examples of how robots find an application into disaster situations, how they have made advances in human health care and what their future capabilities would be. In the final capstone project, you will learn how to program a robot to perform a variety of movements such as flying and grasping objects.

Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control Specialization

• Offered by- Northwestern University on Coursera

• Length– 6 months at 5 hours per week

This Specialization provides a rigorous treatment of spatial motion and the dynamics of rigid bodies, employing representations from modern screw theory and the product of exponentials formula. This course is specially designed for high school first-year students with an engineering background to apply these tools to analysis, planning, and control of robot motion. You will test software on a free state-of-the-art cross-platform robot simulator, to have an authentic robot programming experience with industrial robot manipulators and mobile robots without purchasing expensive robot hardware. This course forms the first part of the six-part specialization in robotics offered in the online format. It is recommended that users take these courses in sequence to have a grasp on the subject.

Control of Mobile Robots

• Offered by- Georgia Tech on Coursera

• Length– 13 hours

Control of Mobile Robots focuses on the application of modern control theory to the problem of making robots move around in safe and effective ways. You will learn the fundamental concepts in mobile robotics. This course covers topics like closed-loop feedback, PID control & its implementation, a state-space form of systems clearly and concisely. Control of mobile robots is an apt course for those who are trying to seek a career in Robotics.