ME 547Robot Manipulators: Kinematics, Dynamics, Control
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
- Subject
- Mechanical Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Homogeneous transformations, D-H convention, forward and inverse kinematics. Differential transformations and Jacobians. Robot dynamics. Programming, trajectory generation and joint control. End-of-arm sensing and outer loop control. Industrial applications.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Complete 1 of the following
- Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Enrolled in H-Mechanical Engineering, or H-Mechatronics Engineering
Antirequisites
- Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
- ECE486 - Robot Dynamics and Control (0.50)
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 4790 | 0 / 74 | M 12:30–14:20 W 13:30–14:20 |
| LEC 701 | 1921 | 75 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
| LAB 101 | 4878 | 0 / 74 | Online or by arrangement |
Reviewed on UW Flow
33% liked it25% easy75% useful
From 3 ratings and 3 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
The midterm was very challenging, as the lectures primarily focused on matrix multiplication without providing sufficient explanation of the new concepts. The project was worth a lot and was enjoyable, but booking time on the robots was difficult because they broke.
Jul 2025 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Robots are neat, math is hard, take only if you really want to put in the time
Mar 2021 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Another massive disappointment from the ME department. This course should have been extremely interesting and has some very well constructed course notes available. However, the course can become extremely boring depending on the professor. First half of the course is mostly about transformations of coordinate frames, and the second half largely relates to kinematics and dynamics. There's no new controls content as it's just tuning a PID controller. The course also contains a lab component where you can design a robotic arm to do whatever you'd like. Overall the course should be very interesting on paper. Instead, it discouraged me from the entire field of robotics.
Apr 2020 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
15 posts and comments in 11 threads mention ME 547, March 2014 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Spring 2022
A GUIDE ON HOW TO PLAN AN OPTION 29 points, 15 comments
u/1000Ditto: “Hey all, here's an example (by yours truly) of how to plan an option. as someone who has been trying to get many options in but having a hard time, might as well write down my process so others can kind of benefit from it. …”
Fall 2021
Got high this afternoon and made a tree diagram of Mechanical Engineering courses and their prerequisites, enjoy 174 points, 13 comments
u/mathematicalengineer: “Nicely done! Sad to see that linear algebra (MATH 115) doesn't directly lead into any other ME course for the rest of the program.”
u/Dragon20942: “Honestly though it should at least be a prerequisite to ME547, ME524, and perhaps ME 456”
Spring 2021
Mechanical engineering undergrad retrospective 201 points, 42 comments
u/doAbr00talroll: “… • ME547: Another course that I wish I had taken in person. The project and the labs were done to the best of their abilities but a lot is missed by not having physical access to the robots. …”
Winter 2021
I plan on becoming a robotic engineer, will Waterloo mechatronics be good for me? 4 points, 5 comments
u/Stock-Elk-8362: “Why is this a question? Did you do an ounce of research before asking this? If not, then I’m afraid you will not be successful at uwaterloo.”
u/doAbr00talroll: “… You pretty well just have ME 547. Programming-wise, the major is VERY bare and you won't get much farther than the basics. …”
Fall 2020
Engineering ranked by Math Difficulty? 9 points, 18 comments
“In your opinion, how would you rank the difficulty/depth of math that each engineering student has to go through? (By major)”
u/doAbr00talroll: “… I'm just in 4a though so the 4b courses might be harder math wise given there's stuff like ME547 (robot manipulators), ME524 and ME526 (one of them is fatigue the other is advanced dynamics and vibrations, I forget which is which)”
Fall 2019
4B Engineering Course Load 4 points, 2 comments
u/Weak-Resolution: “… FYDP ME 547: Robot Manipulators MTE 544: Autonomous Mobile Robots MTE 546: Multi-sensor Data Fusion SYDE 522: Machine Intelligence ECE 488: Multivariable Control Systems”
u/KQ1996: “I heard ME547 is a tough course.”
Spring 2018
How much programming is involved in mechanical engineering? 2 points, 1 comment
u/DoubIeIift: “… From this page: http://www.ucalendar.uwaterloo.ca/1819/COURSE/course-ME.html I see that the classes with programming are ME 101 LAB, ME262 LAB, ME 547 LAB, and ME 548 LAB, but overall the majority of classes are your standard engineering/physics/calculus courses for mechanical …”
Fall 2016
What are your feelings on ME 547 and ME 548? Which did you prefer and why? 0 points, 2 comments
u/supersymmetry: “I'm currently enrolled in ME 547 but I want to get some more detailed information on these courses from people that have taken either ME 547 or ME 548. …”
u/atzerok: “ME 547 is a dynamics course. ME 548 is a machining course. The topics are related but the course content is very different. If you liked your second year dynamics course, then go for ME547. Alternatively, you can look at SYDE553 which I highly recommend. …”
Spring 2016
Choosing between Robotics and Welding Course 4 points, 2 comments
u/supersymmetry: “Has anyone taken ME 547 (Robot Manipulators) or ME 436 (Welding and Joining Processes) and can speak about their overall assessment of the courses? I'm particularly asking for feedback on: instructor competency, course depth and interesting material, usefulness and work load. …”
u/Nakji: “… ME547: Didn't take it, but a several of my friends did. Most of them found the material good, but Fidan is a very polarizing professor. The complaints I heard were mostly about Fidan's teaching, but by the same token some people think he's great. …”
Spring 2015
Any mech eng doing/done the tron option? 1 point, 6 comments
“I just wanna know if there are any mech eng that are doing/done the tron option. I wanna know what courses you took to complete the option (ECE or MTE courses?) and if doing the option itself was …”
u/annihilatron: “… Courses I did not take and have heard nothing about: ME561, ME547, ECE463, ECE450, ECE457, ECE486, ME524, The rest of the SYDE courses (non-422) ======== Jobwise, it doesn't affect much. …”
u/annihilatron: “Only two of these are part of the option, and they only fulfill two of the requirements; you'd still have to take ECE484 and RTOS or a similarly difficult programming course. - ME 555 is a bird course about CAD and some additional mathematics related to CAD. …”
Winter 2014
Mechanical Engineering Technical Electives 6 points, 12 comments
“I'm in my 3B term (Mech Eng) atm and I have to pre-enroll for the technical electives this term for 4A (Fall 2014). …”
u/nebularium: “I recommend ME 547 with Baris Fidan. It's not required for the welding option, but still a really good one. Fidan is also one of the best profs I've had.”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
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