BEng (Hons) Robotics & Autonomous Systems

Core units

• Electrical and Electronic Principles: You will be introduced to and develop an understanding of the principles required to design electrical and electronic systems within an engineering project.
• Engineering Mathematics: This unit will enable you to extract and evaluate pertinent data and apply this to engineering analysis techniques in the solution of unfamiliar problems. You will gain a firm grounding in mathematical and statistical methods necessary within the engineering field.
• Programming: Develop the skills and understanding to implement a software solution to different problems whilst gaining hands-on experience in programming and testing.
• Network Essentials: Learn about common network hardware, as well as the terminology and basic concepts of networking.
• Mechatronics & Robotics Principles: This unit focuses on developing a working knowledge of the methodologies used in designing mechatronic and robotic systems and enhancing the ability to apply these principles to real-world design and engineering problems. The unit covers a wide range of topics, including the principles of robotic mechatronics, kinematics, statics, dynamics, programming, and an introduction to Artificial Intelligence. The unit prepares students to understand and apply an integrated approach to solving and implementing mechatronic and robotic systems, and to investigate mechatronic and robotic problems using practical laboratory skills.
• Computing and Society: Learn about mapping computer techniques, concepts and principles in line with sustainability.

Core units

• Engineering Simulation: In this unit, you will take part in engineering design practices and learn about new technologies for mechanical and electronic concepts. You'll become familiar with industry-standard simulation technologies.
• Robotic Digital Control: This unit aims to introduce students to the analysis, design, and implementation of robotic control systems. It focuses on developing an understanding of new technologies and industry-standard simulation tools for robotic digital control. The unit also aims to enhance professional competence in using modern analytical techniques for developing robotic control engineering solutions and understanding machine-vision methodologies. The unit covers topics such as control systems, kinematics, signal processing, machine learning, and machine vision.
• Machine Learning: This unit will help you develop and demonstrate an understanding of underlying theory and application of data analysis, data processing, and machine learning techniques. 
• Data Structure and Algorithms: Learn about the theory and applications of fundamental data structures and algorithms, implementing them in real-world applications.
• Computer Vision: You'll build real skills in computer vision and deep learning, combining traditional techniques with the latest approaches. From object detection to semantic segmentation, you'll work on practical challenges that mirror what's happening in industry right now.
• Technological Innovations in Robotics and Autonomous Systems: You've got programming skills - now put them to work on something bigger. On this unit, you'll explore emerging technologies and collaborate with your peers to develop robotics and autonomous systems that solve real problems.

You’ll complete a minimum 30-week work placement which can be carried out anywhere in the world. The placement year offers a chance to gain experience and make contacts for the future. Students who successfully complete the one-year placement will be awarded a degree in sandwich mode.

Core units

• Autonomous Swarm: You'll go beyond simple single-agent autonomous control to explore the fascinating world of autonomous swarm systems, where a large number of agents interact. You'll get hands-on experience designing and programming these systems, as well as analysing and evaluating emergent behaviours in multi-agent autonomous swarms.
• Systems Engineering: This unit has been designed to provide you with the conceptual foundations and applications of Systems Engineering (SE). You'll learn the processes and lifecycles that support the development of complex socio-technical systems and their integration across the enterprise.
• Digital Futures: Drawing from technical, legal and social disciplines, learn about the role of digital technology in society and how it affects the individual.
• Individual Project: The Individual Project is an opportunity to pursue a topic of your choice. You’ll identify a problem and then select and implement a solution to solving that problem.  

Optional units (choose one):

• Deep Learning and Applications: Gain an introduction into Deep Learning approaches and their applications for Machine Learning tasks. 
• Human Computer Interaction: Gain an understanding of the role of Human Factors (HF) and integration of its elements into the development of complex socio-technical systems. 
• Internet and Wide Area Networks: Investigate the networking aspects such as design principles, implementation in practice, analysis and evaluation of large-scale networked systems.

A placement should be a highly rewarding experience for you and the employing company and we do our best to ensure that everyone involved feels that they have got the most that they can from the experience.

Placements provide a great opportunity to make your first career steps and enhance your employability while you’re completing your studies. You’ll get the opportunity to:

• Put the theory learnt throughout the course into professional practice
• Enhance your study and help you decide on subject options (where appropriate)
• Learn a wide range of skills such as time management, problem solving and team work (all of these are important to succeed in any career)
• Make contacts, as it is not uncommon for our students to be offered permanent positions to return to after graduating
• Gain a real insight into how the industry operates in roles that would be almost impossible to achieve for an outsider.

Many of our students, during their placement, are given responsibilities normally associated with graduate trainees.

You can also choose to take your placement abroad, giving you the opportunity to develop yourself personally, academically, and professionally and gain skills to help you stand out in the job market.

You will begin your placement after completion of your second year of study and you must complete a minimum of 30 weeks.

The faculty running your course will offer the support of a Placement Co-ordinator.  

Through timetabled sessions and one-to-one appointments, they’ll help support you in your placement search including advice on finding a placement, information and advice on all aspects of job searching and job applications, as well as ensuring your proposed placement meets the requirements of your course.  

Our CareersBU service is also available throughout your time at BU, offering services like CV checking and careers fairs to meet employers.  

Placement Development Advisors will support you once you have started your sandwich placement – so you will be able to maintain contact with the university throughout.  

• National Crime Agency
• Intel
• IBM
• American Express
• NHS
• Barclays Bank
• Microsoft
• The Walt Disney Company
• Adobe Systems Europe Ltd
• Panasonic
• BMW Mini
• The Football Foundation
• Cyprus Police, Astrobank, Dept of Information
• HoiPoi Development (Japan)
• Axenic (New Zealand).

AccessBU: AccessBU provides you with the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances that are not always evident in your UCAS application. This widening access initiative also considers relevant criteria such as being in care or if you live in an area with a low participation rate in Higher Education - if you are eligible, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS tariff points below the published tariff.

Apprenticeships: We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Deferred entry: We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry. If you have already submitted your application, please submit your deferral request through our website.

Direct entry: We welcome applications from students who have previously studied at degree level at other institutions and wish to transfer onto a BU course. Our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure enables credit awarded from one institution to contribute to a BU award, subject to an application process. Please visit our RPL webpage for more information.

Mature applicants: We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application.

We select candidates for this course by looking at your application; there are usually no interviews or selection activities needed. For that reason, make sure your application really stands out from the crowd, and leave us in no doubt as to why you should be joining BU. You can find some handy hints about filling in your UCAS form on our how to apply webpages.

We look at individual applications and make a tailored offer based on your potential to succeed on the course considering a range of factors, including your academic achievements, work and other experience, reference and personal statement, and in some cases, your performance at an interview or a portfolio review. Typically, we make an offer at the bottom of the tariff range.

If you are unable to meet the entry requirements, we may be able to make you an offer through AccessBU if you meet certain criteria e.g. you have been in care or live in an area where fewer people typically progress to Higher Education. If you don't meet our published tariff, we will accept you at least 8 points below if your personal circumstances match our AccessBU criteria. 

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

• Autonomous Systems Engineer
• Robotics Software Engineer
• Embedded Systems / Edge AI Engineer
• Automation and Control Systems Engineer
• Uncrewed Systems Technical Specialist
• Robotics Systems Integrator

Once you have completed an undergraduate Honours degree, you can further develop your education by studying for a postgraduate degree. Please visit our Postgraduate section for further details about our range of Master’s degrees.

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course, including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for laboratory and mandatory field-based teaching activity
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement if this is part of your course of study.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow
• Free software download to your personal device of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus while you are studying, as well as access to applications provided on AppsAnywhere, subject to licensing and compatibility restrictions
• Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme
• Disability and additional learning support, according to individual circumstances.
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds
• Accommodation and living costs. Our accommodation price guide can be found on our website
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately
• Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. Information about funding your placement year can be found here
• Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable)
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shop stocks a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses
• You will need to meet the cost of any Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if required by your placement setting, including any Post Office or Digital ID verification changes
• Clothing or equipment costs required for your placement if this is part of your course of study
• SportBU membership.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during the course of your studies (with or without attendance), the pricing will be pro-rata of the full-time fee.

Wei Koong Chai is the Associate Head of School of Computing and Engineering within the Faculty of Media, Science and Technology at Bournemouth University (BU). Previously, he was the Deputy Head of Department of Computing and Informatics. He holds the role of the Director of the Computing and Informatics Research Center (CIRC) and heads the Future and Complex Networks Research Group (FlexNet). Prior to joining BU, he was with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London (UCL), UK. He led the successful delivery of several collaborative research projects.

He has successfully raised research funding from both EU and UK funding bodies. He has published papers in fully refereed international conferences and journals and contributed chapters to books. His research work has been constantly receiving citations, recording over 4,000 citations to date (source: Google Scholar). 

I received my BSc from the University of Tabriz with 1st rank in 2005, and my MSc and PhD in 2007 and 2013 from the University of Tehran, all in Mechanical Engineering. My MSc thesis was on trajectory control of a mobile robot with experimental works, and my PhD thesis was on dynamics and control of the running of biped robots. During my PhD research, I worked for 7 months at the University of Calgary in Canada as a visiting scholar in 2012. I developed stable and efficient biped running gaits using optimization. Then I attended the Dynamic Robotic Laboratory at Oregon State University in the US for 6 months. I worked on ATRIAS robot for which I derived an analytical and realistic dynamic model and designed a two-level controller using force control. I was also a postdoctoral fellow at École nationale d'ingénieurs de Tarbes (ENIT) in France, holding a scholarship from Campus France, to do research on robotic hands in 2019.

Marcin Budka received his dual MSc/BSc degree in Finance and Banking from the Katowice University of Economics (Poland, 2003), BSc in Computer Science from the University of Silesia (Poland, 2005) and PhD in Computational Intelligence from Bournemouth University (UK, 2010). Between 2003 and 2007 he was working as an engineer, project manager and team leader in a smart-metering start-up company, before pursuing an academic career. In the years 2011-2012 he was appointed as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland. Between 2015 and 2017 he was the Head of Research in the Department of Computing and Informatics at Bournemouth University.

His research interests lie in a broadly understood area of AI, machine learning and data science, with a particular focus on practical applications. Throughout his career, he was involved in a number of consultancy and research projects with industry, ranging from EU-funded international research programmes to multiple Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, always with a particular focus on tangible impact and societally useful innovation.