Masters degrees in Robotics & Cybernetics equip postgraduates with the skills to design, develop and produce man-made systems which mimic biological phenomena.
Taught MSc degrees are typical for the field, though research-based MRes and MPhil programmes may also be available at some institutions. Entry requirements normally include an undergraduate degree in a relevant Engineering or Science subject.
This theoretical and practical MSc Engineering (Cybernetics and Communications) course combines computer science, electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and management to enable greater understanding of cybernetics and communications.
An innovative and distinctive feature of the course is the cross-disciplinary group design project, which provides a challenging, simulated environment in which to work as a member of a team. The project will encourage you to develop your imagination, creativity and innovation in design solutions. You will also build on your leadership, team building and communication skills, all of which are attractive to potential employers.
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Apply by: 1 August (International), 1 September (UK/EU)
5G mobile communications and intelligent embedded systems lie at the heart of many emerging applications. These include:
We’ve designed this new MSc course to give you the up-to-date knowledge and skills needed in modern digital technologies.
It's for newly qualified or practising engineers who’d like to extend their knowledge and practical skills in these rapidly growing areas of mobile communications and intelligent embedded systems.
The MSc offers you the opportunity, and the support, to go on an industrial placement at a UK company. This means you’ll gain industry experience, ready for your future career.
We also offer this course without the industrial placement year.
You’ll study taught modules and work on an individual MSc project.
You’ll benefit from hands-on learning, using for example:
The modules are taught by a combination of lectures, seminars and practical laboratory work. Assessment is linked to the modules’ learning outcomes and involves unseen exam and/or coursework. The MSc project is mainly assessed by a project dissertation and oral presentation.
You’ll complete a substantial MSc project, which is often practical as well as theoretical. You may have opportunities to work with an industrial partner.
Some of our previous students’ project work has led to journal and conference publication, giving them a head start in their careers.
The project allows you to develop your skills as an engineer and will involve:
Project assessment can include interim reports, presentations and a dissertation. Some projects are undertaken in groups and replicate the type of professional teamwork expected in industry. Topics are generated from the academic research and industrial collaborations in our Department. A member of faculty supervises the project.
Core modules
Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.
Options
Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests.
This course is currently subject to validation, in line with our procedures for assuring the quality of our degrees. This means that some course detail may change. The validation process will be concluded before the course starts.
Our Careers and Employability Centre can help you find part-time work while you study. Find out more about career development and part-time work
As a graduate, you’ll have the skills for a career in areas such as:
The MSc is also an ideal entry point for doctoral research in the fields of telecommunications and embedded systems.
This course is for students who already have a strong engineering background and wish to specialise in robotics and automation. This course has a particular emphasis on advanced robotics, where robots are designed to operate with a degree of intelligence.
You will gain a firm grounding in control engineering and intelligent systems concepts, along with the ability to comprehend and fully specify integrated automation systems embodying intelligence, robotic and automation hardware and software, and virtual reality (VR)/simulation technologies.
The course also provides a suitable background for research in advanced autonomous systems with reference to robotics.
You will be taught via a series of lectures and workshops with many of the modules taught via extensive hands-on practical lab-based sessions.
Practical experience includes the use of robotics platforms to produce a software system using the MATLAB toolboxes or the C programming language or to produce a finished hardware/software based mobile robotics system.
70% coursework and 30% examination.
There are dedicated labs and facilities for Robotics and Automation students, including: Industrial robots, flexi-picker, manipulators (Hitachi, KUKA) humanoid robots plus many mobile robots. Plus dedicated computing facilities
And if you do your MSc Project with an aerospace company, as many of our students do, then you will also have access to their facilities.
Graduates from this course can expect to find employment in a range of industries. Robotics and automation are continuously developing topics that present many career opportunities in areas such as robotic design, control systems integration and design, factory automation, engineering management and research.
Many of our students work on final year projects in conjunction with aeronautical companies associated with the University.
Many of our students go on to further study at the Centre for Advanced Robotics which is very closely linked with this course.
The European Masters in Computer Vision and Robotics (VIBOT) is a collaboration between the three leading European institutions, the Universitat de Girona (Spain), the Université de Bourgogne (France) and Heriot-Watt University (Scotland). It aims to meet the needs of industry for quality control and automation of industrial processes, and those in the field of health with the increasing importance of medical imagery in all its forms.
In recent years, the amount of digital information to be stored, processed and distributed has grown dramatically. The generalisation of the use of digital images, in video surveillance, biomedical and e-health systems, and remote sensing, create new, pressing challenges, and automated management tools are key to enable the organisation, mining and processing of these important knowledge resources.
The key subject areas are computer vision and robotics. Research in these areas are dynamic and relevant to a wide range of sectors, such as the car industry, the agro-alimentary field or the domain of health, with the active development of e-Health solutions. The course is over two years, students spend the first semester in France, the second in Spain and the third in Scotland. The fourth semester is reserved for Masters thesis.
This degree programme aims to provide advanced knowledge of mechanical engineering over a range of specialist subjects, with an in-depth study, via a researchled project, in a chosen area.
As a graduate mechanical engineer, this MSc course will provide you with an advanced qualification which will enhance your career prospects and extend and update your skills and knowledge. The course actively encourages the understanding and practice of inter-disciplinary systems engineering thinking that brings together mechanical engineering subjects in a way that reflects the needs of industrial and academic problem solving.
More specifically, the programme aims to:
The close integration of the case study and project will allow you to explore, in-depth, a chosen topic related to the course. This provides you with an individually tailored programme to meet your needs in a flexible yet focussed manner, with the project seen as being the key opportunity to acquire and exercise leading edge mechanical engineering knowledge. You will be given the opportunity to show originality in applying the knowledge you acquire, and will develop an appreciation of how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research. You will be trained to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, and will be given the opportunity and encouragement to demonstrate initiative and innovation in solving challenging problems and in designing new components and systems.
The close involvement with industry, particularly at the project stage, ensures that the experience the course provides has both relevance and meaning. Lecturers delivering the modules are working with some of the world's most renowned engineering companies. Partners include Airbus, BAe Systems, Bosch, Tata Steel, Daimler, EADS, Fiat, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Messier-Dowty, Network Rail, TWI, Parametric Technology, Physical Acoustics Ltd, Renault, Renishaw, Rolls-Royce, SAP, Siemens, Silicon Graphics, Stile Bertone, The Highways Agency, TRL, Microchip, and WS Atkins.
This degree course will prepare you for entry into careers in research or industry. In addition to technical skills, you will acquire professional skills such effective communication with technical, management and non-technical audiences, project planning, evaluation and prioritisation.
Distinctive features
The distinctive features of this course include:
A wide range of teaching styles and mechanisms will be used to deliver the diverse material forming the curriculum of the programme. You will be expected to attend lectures and participate in tutorial classes. All students must complete 120 credits in Stage 1 in order to progress to the dissertation, for which they are allocated a supervisor from among the teaching staff. Dissertation topics are normally chosen from a range of project titles proposed by academic staff, usually in areas of current research interest, although you are encouraged to put forward your own project ideas.
The course provides master’s level training to the standard necessary to practice as a chartered professional mechanical engineer. When you graduate you will be equipped to apply for management level roles across a broad spectrum of mechanical and related engineering fields. The material presented during the course will provide an excellent foundation for any career in mechanical engineering or related discipline.
The Robotics MSc allows you to gain specialist knowledge relating to robotics and automation applications by examining the integration of mechanical devices, sensors, electronics and ‘intelligent’ computer-based controllers. You will also explore the latest developments in robotics while completing research and development work for your individual research project. You will complete the course in one year, studying September to September and taking a combination of required and optional modules totalling 180 credits, including 60 credits that will come from an individual project of 15,000 words. You will study robotic systems, computer vision, sensors and actuators, real-time systems and control. There are also opportunities to explore a broad range of optional modules allowing you the freedom to develop your study pathway to reflect your interests.
Robotics is a multi-disciplinary activity dealing with the integration of mechanical devices, sensors, electronics and ‘intelligent’ computer-based controllers. The programme is therefore built around core modules such as Robotic Systems, Computer Vision, Sensors and Actuators, Real Time Systems and Control, which are complemented by a wide range of optional modules. The final part of the programme is an individual project that is closely linked with the Department’s research activities.
For graduates in engineering or a related scientific discipline, from this programme you will gain an awareness of the latest developments in Robotics while completing research and development work for your individual research project. This will provide valuable preparation for a career in research or industry.
We use lectures, seminars and group tutorials to deliver most of the modules on the programme. You will also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study.
You are expected to spend approximately 150 hours of effort (i.e. about 10 hours per credit) for each module you attend in your degree. These 150 hours cover every aspect of the module: lectures, tutorials, lab-based exercises, independent study based on personal and provided lecture notes, tutorial preparation and completion of exercises, coursework preparation and submission, examination revision and preparation, and examinations.
Assessment
Assessment methods will depend on the modules selected. The primary methods of assessment for this course are written examinations and coursework. You may also be assessed by practical laboratory examinations, laboratory reports and oral presentations.
Via the Department’s Careers Programme students are able to network with top employers and obtain advice on how to enhance career prospects. Our graduates have continued on to have very successful careers in industry and research, working areas such as manufacturing, automotive and aerospace. Recent employers include Cummins Inc. and Transport Alstom.
Automation, control and robotics are pervasive enabling technologies found in almost every modern technical system, particularly in manufacturing and production. They combine the diverse and rapidly expanding disciplines of automation, control, mechanics, software and signal processing.
This course is ideal if you wish to develop comprehensive knowledge and understanding of • classical and modern control theory • industrial automation • systems analysis • design and simulation • robotics.
You gain the ability to apply principles of modelling, classical and modern control concepts and controller design packages in various areas of industry. You also learn how to design and exploit automation and robotic systems in a range of manufacturing and industrial applications.
The course has six core modules which cover the major aspects of industrial automation and control systems engineering and robotics, ranging from classical linear control system design to non-linear, optimal and intelligent control systems, including distributed control systems, robotics, computer networks and artificial intelligence.
You also choose two optional modules relevant to automation and control to suit your interests. For example, if you wish to work in the manufacturing industry you can choose manufacturing systems or machine vision. There is the opportunity to study one or two management modules if you wish to apply yourself to a more managerial role.
To gain the masters you complete a major research-based project, which can be focused on an area of your particular interest or career need.
You work alongside staff from the Electrical, Electronic and Control Engineering Group and the Centre for Automation and Robotics Research (CARR) at Sheffield Hallam. This provides the opportunity to work with active researchers.
This course is seeking accreditation by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer. The MSc will meet, in part, the exemplifying academic benchmark requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer; graduates who have a BEng (Hons) accredited for CEng will be able to show that they have satisfied the further learning requirement for CEng accreditation.
Core modules
Options
Choose two from
MSc
This course provides you with the knowledge and skills for further advanced study in this area.
You can also apply your skills in an industrial setting for automated manufacturing, control system design, or in the wide range of industries that exploit intelligent robotics. Graduates from this course find career opportunities in areas including • automation and control • process and petrochemical • biomedical • manufacturing • energy • automotive • aerospace.
You can also pursue careers in engineering design and development, engineering research, engineering consultancy and engineering management.
Completing this course combined with further work-based experience enables you to gain Chartered Engineer status.
Develop your skills and enhance your career prospects with a masters degree in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence
The Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE) at the University of Sheffield
