Next Generation Robotics Specialization

In the interdisciplinary part of the Honours Programme Delft, you work alongside honours students from other faculties on your academic and professional development. You must obtain at least 5 or 6 ECTS for the interdisciplinary part depending on your faculty’s requirements. There are several ways to obtain these ECTS. For more information check here.

Within the NGR Part the following components will be considered for your NGR HPB:

Bachelor students who have already been accepted for the BSc Honours programme (HPB). In principle, we focus on students from the followingBSC programmes, although well-motivated exceptions are possible:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Science and Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

A maximum of 15 participants are accepted each year, aiming for 3-4 students from each faculty. The students will form a team (a NGR generation) together.

1. You have been admitted to the BSc Honours programme.

2. You have a strong interest in robotics which shows from your motivation letter in which we expect that you describe:

• Your experience in making a robot to date.
• Your experience with solving complex problems in a team.
• Examples that prove you are goal-oriented and have the perseverance to achieve your goals.
• Robot applications that inspire you.
• Your motivation and ambitions to make a difference in the NGR programme.

Please send your application to Gillian Saunders (G.N.Saunders@tudelft.nl) via email with the subject of the email being “Application NGR”.

The email shall contain the following:

1. a motivation letter of no more than 300 words
2. a Curriculum Vitae – maximum of 1 page which must include a recent picture.

An average student needs 28 hours of study to obtain 1 ECTS point. It is expected that excellent students need less time than average students. The honours class NGR starts in Q2 of your second year and the programme will cost you on average 8-10 hours extra per week. How you plan your activities is up to you, but you are expected to attend the biweekly NGR meetings which typically take place on a weekday from 18.00-19.00. It is our experience that students selected for this programme also use part of the (summer) holidays to work on projects.

No additional fees are charged for enrolling into the honours class NGR. It is possible that during the programme you may incur some additional costs for travel and study materials, etcetera.

• You must finish regular programme and the integrated honours programme in the nominal length of the bachelor (3 years) to receive an honours certificate and a statement letter from the Robotics Institute (some extension may be possible in case of special circumstances, see your faculty’s BSc Examination regulations).
• Expected study load: Second year BSc: ~10 EC (including the interfaculty courses); Third year BSc: ~10 EC.
• NGR students must complete the mandatory number of interdisciplinary courses (~5 EC) offered within the TU Delft Honour’s Programme.
• We strongly advice to also choose the minor (advanced) Robotics in your third year.
• We strongly encourage that where possible selected and admitted students also select a robotics research/development assignment as their final bachelor thesis (supervision and assessment according to the guidelines and assessment criteria from their major programme).

• Early orientation and preparation to become inter- and multidisciplinary innovative team player in Robotics.
• Experience to work with (research and industrial) robotics experts and motivated peers.
• An additional challenge to broaden and deepen your knowledge and experience.
• The possibility to experience state-of-the-art developments in robotics research and industry.
• The possibility to explore your own creativity, communication, and innovation skills.
• Be part of the exclusive TU Delft honours community.
• Build an early network in the Robotics field.
• The possibility to work on an entire mission from the start with enough time and skills to accomplish this possibility.
• The possibility to write and present a scientific paper when the results are promising.
• The possibility to work in an interdisciplinary team and to experiment with different engineering roles.
• Be extra prepared for the MSc Robotics.
• Be embedded in the TU Delft Robotics Institute and become part of the (international) robotics community.

If you successfully complete the Interdisciplinary Honours Class NGR within 2 years, you will receive a TU Delft Honours certificate. More information about the TU Delft Honours programme can be found on this website. In addition to this honours certificate, you will also receive an additional statement letter from the TU Delft Robotics Institute that you have successfully completed the Next Generation Robotics Interdisciplinary Honours Class.

If you feel have misjudged the level of the Honours Class NGR or the amount of work, you can drop out at any time and continue as a regular student with your bachelor studies. Please discuss your decision with your project supervisor and the NGR coordinator.

Gillian (ME) is the NGR coordinator and does the day-to-day running of the NGR programme. She runs the biweekly meetings, arranges for the results to be communicated to the ME HP coordinator, and can help with general trouble shooting.

Martijn (ME) is the director of the Robotics institute and is the scientific lead for the NGR programme. He will approve all projects before starting to their suitability.

Chris is the architect of the NGR programme. He makes sure to be present for the yearly selection of new NGR students as well as the formal presentations (such as final presentations) by the NGR students. Informally, he is always ready to serve as a source of inspiration, and to re-emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Martin is the coordinator of the Minor Robotics, and as such he has many contacts with companies that provide assignments. For NGR, Martin is the go-to-person regarding all cont(r)acts with companies.

Prof. Verhaegen (ME) is the coordinator of the ME “regular” honours programme, and he is the only one allowed to enter the results of the student projects in OSIRIS and approves the projects for all ME participants within the NGR programme.

Each NGR project has a formal academic supervisor. This could be any staff member of TU Delft. It could be one of the staff members listed above themselves, or they could help find someone else. It is also possible for to propose a formal academic supervisor. This supervisor will check the quality of the NGR project work, using the NGR report requirements. At the end of the project, the supervisor and the NGR student will jointly sign the HP project completion form to formalise that the project was completed satisfactorily. This form will then be sent to the Honours Programme Coordinator at ME who will register the results in OSIRIS.