Master's degree program in Autonome Systeme und Robotik

In this research-oriented Master's program, students expand their subject-specific and interdisciplinary competencies from a previous Bachelor's program. Graduates are qualified for research and development work in basic research or in industry.

Overview

  • Teaching language: German
  • Scope: 120 credit points over four semesters (regular course duration)
  • Admission: Adequate entry-level skills through completion of a Computer Science-related program with at least 180 CP
  • Start: Winter semester recommended | Summer semester possible
  • Application: Summer term: 01.12.- end of February. | Winter term: 01.06.-31.08. | Current deadline dates | Early application recommended!
  • Combination of Computer Science and engineering education with diverse interdisciplinary course offerings
  • Balanced mix between theory and practice with integrated projects and labs

Students arrange their curriculum from numerous courses in four mandatory elective and elective areas:

  • Sense
  • Act
  • Plan
  • Basis Technologies

These represent the four core areas necessary for autonomous systems and robotics.

Students have a high level of freedom in the design of their curriculum, allowing them to pursue their individual interests. Mandatory elective areas ensure that students acquire the necessary basic knowledge as well as the specific knowledge and skills essential for the course of study.

Due to the close cooperation with other relevant departments of the TU Darmstadt, the study programme offers a particularly diverse range of courses. Additional offerings come primarily from electrical and information engineering as well as mechanical engineering. Take a look at the module handbook to learn more about the courses offered.

A major strength of the program are the integrated projects and labs. Here, students have the opportunity to participate in challenging projects in cutting-edge international research.

Below you will find the exemplary course of studies. More detailed information on study and examination plans can be as found of June 2023 under “Regulations ” at the bottom of the page.

The admission requirement for the Master's program in Autonomous Systems and Robotics (M.Sc.) is the completion of a program that provides competencies amounting to at least 180 credit points (CP). Of these, at least 60 CP must not be significantly different from the entry-level skills acquired in the Bachelor's program in Computer Science (B.Sc.) at the TU Darmstadt (comparable program, see section “Formal prerequisites”).

Formal Entrance Examination

The entry competencies are proven by the certificate of the first degree and the Diploma Supplement or comparable documents submitted with the application.

Material Entrance Examination

If the entry-level skills could not be clearly clarified in this way, a written examination will be conducted.

Admission with remedial coursework

If, after the entrance examination, it is found that the applicant lacks entry-level skills that can be compensated for by making up achievements in the amount of no more than 30 CP, admission can be made subject to remedial coursework. This must be completed within the first two semesters .

Which modules or subject examinations are chosen as remedial coursework and by when they must be completed will be listed in the admission notification.

Usual requirements for all degree programs

In addition, the usual requirements for all degree programs apply: in particular, a timely application with complete documents (or documents submitted later within a deadline) and – after admission by the TU Darmstadt – timely transfer of the semester fee.

The entry-level skills described below are essential for the successful completion of the M.Sc. Autonomous Systems and Robotics. They are a selection of the most important competencies taught in the reference program B.Sc. Computer Science at TU Darmstadt and thus also provide the essential prerequisites for the successful continuation of studies in a master's program that builds on it.

Within the competencies from their previous degree to be proven in the amount of at least 180 credit points (CP), applicants to the M.Sc. Autonomous Systems and Robotics must prove entry-level skills in the amount of 60 CP in total for admission, whereby:

1. at least 15 CP of the entry-level skills are related to the field of mathematics and

2. at least 35 CP of the entry-level skills must belong to the following subfields of computer science:

  • Scientific Computing,
  • Probabilistic Methods in Computer Science,
  • Information Management,
  • Software Engineering and
  • Visual Computing

Specific requirements

The following describes in detail the expected professional entry-level skills for the M.Sc. Autonomous Systems and Robotics:

Applicants should have the ability to independently handle the methods of linear algebra, analysis, numerics and stochastics, to understand typical proofs from a proof-oriented mathematics course and to correctly conduct them themselves in analogous elementary cases.

The corresponding competencies are acquired in the Bachelor's program in Computer Science at the TU Darmstadt in the courses Mathematics I / II.

Applicants should be able to use mathematical notations and methods to ground computer science concepts, especially for formal modeling and verification of software and hardware systems.

Courses in which these entry-level skills are taught in the reference program at TU Darmstadt are propositional and predicate logic; automata, formal languages and decidability; modeling, specification and semantics.

Applicants should be able to

  • to select independently from a problem description the standard algorithms and data structures necessary for the solution according to the functional and non-functional requirements and/or to construct and estimate new algorithms and data structures for the problem solution on the basis of known strategies, if necessary with consideration of parallelism.
  • to combine the individual components of a programming language independently and without analogous example in the context of a programming task to an overall solution.
  • to solve programming tasks in different, also parallel, programming languages, which follow different paradigms, have different application areas and are located on the whole range of abstraction levels.
  • ensure the quality of the created implementations through formalized testing procedures and design methods.
  • to apply the aforementioned knowledge in practically relevant areas of computer science themselves. In doing so, non-functional aspects, in particular the security of the IT systems created, should also be taken into account.

The competencies in practically relevant areas of computer science are acquired in the Bachelor's program in Computer Science at the TU Darmstadt in the courses: Algorithms and Data Structures; Bachelor Poject; Computer Networks and Distributed Systems; Computer System Security; Introduction to Artificial Intelligence; Functional and Object-Oriented Programming Concepts; Information Management; Software Engineering; System-Oriented and Parallel Programming.

Upon completion of the program, graduates will have the necessary expertise for basic science research as well as engineering development in the field of autonomous systems and robotics.

In addition, they have the methodological skills in the areas of physical action and interaction, sensory perception, planning, and fundamental technologies essential to Autonomous Systems and Robotics.

Graduates will be able to,

  • to work independently on complex problems and tasks from the field of Autonomous Systems and Robotics with their improved methodological competence using scientific methods while considering different approaches to solutions,
  • to apply these competencies also in new and unfamiliar situations with incomplete information and to think in system contexts,
  • to solve tasks and problems with a high level of abstraction and an eye for complex interrelationships,
  • to recognize future problems, technologies and scientific developments and to consider them appropriately in their work,
  • communicate and present the results of their analyses or the elaborated solutions to various target groups, also in foreign languages,
  • to organize and carry out complex projects efficiently and to work in teams in a goal-oriented manner,
  • to further their professional education independently and to work scientifically to a large extent on their own,

In addition, within the framework of the General education (Studium Generale), students have expanded their skills and experience in self-selected areas of practice.

Special emphasis is placed on the ability to deal with current research literature as well as the ability to work scientifically in a self-selected specialization and to independently solve current problems in practice.

Graduates of the master's program in Autonome Systeme und Robotik face an innovative and promising job market with diverse perspectives in industry, business and research. They can work as development engineers or software developers in research institutions or in areas of research, development and application of technical autonomous systems in companies.

In addition to studying, it is important to gain your own practical experience at an early stage in relevant institutions, to prove your general practical suitability and to establish contacts. The prospect of a good position is increased by the willingness to be professionally mobile, also abroad. Especially in the case of an international orientation, secure English language skills are highly recommended