ROB 590 and ROB 690

To ensure that the expectations of the 590/690 project are clearly defined and understood by both the student and the advisor the Proposal Form was developed.

The Proposal Form should be submitted by the drop/add deadline of the term in which the student will be registered for ROB 590/690.

Once the student submits the form it will be sent to the advisor and to the graduate chair for their records. The advisor will reply via email to approve or revise and will then tell the student they can register for 590/690.

ROB 590: Directed Study

A minimum of 3 credits (and a maximum of 6 credits) of ROB 590 is required to fulfill the Robotics MS degree requirements. A ROB 590 directed study project is research supervised by a robotics faculty member (core or affiliate) and the directed study project requirements are up to each individual faculty advisor. You must have your research advisor’s permission (verbal or written) before registering for ROB 590.

ROB 690: Master’s Advanced Research

ROB 690 “Master’s Advanced Research” is faculty-supervised research that culminates in a submitted and graded document. The expectation is that the student will write and submit an original conference style paper based on their advanced research that builds on earlier research completed in three to six credits of ROB 590. Specific expectations are determined by the research advisor. ROB 690 will be letter graded (not S/U).

There are 2 different registration options for ROB 690:

Option 1:

Term X: register for 3 credits of ROB 590

Term Y: register for 3 credits of ROB 590 AND 3 credits of ROB 690

Option 2:

Term X: 3 credits of ROB 590

Term Y: 3 credits of ROB 590

Term Z: 3 credits of ROB 690

Registration will require an email from the advisor to robotics-sso@umich.edu approving the registration, as well as an electronic permission from the grad office.

Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP)

Every year the Robotics Graduate Committee reviews all MDP projects and approves some of the projects to count toward ROB 590. The MDP website allows the student to search by projects approved for academic credit. If you are seeking ROB 590 credit for one of the approved MDP projects, approval is required from the Robotics Graduate Committee. Please email robotics-sso@umich.edu to request approval. 

Some Robotics faculty are the faculty mentor for MDP projects. For those projects approved for ROB 590 credit for which the faculty mentor is not a member of Robotics faculty, the student should register for ROB 590 in the Robotics Graduate Chair’s section. 

Please note effective Winter 2023) if doing MDP, all 4 credits (this includes the 1 credit for ENGR 599) will count towards the maximum of 6 ROB 590 credits that can count toward the MS.