UM FERI · Maribor
Electrical Engineering · Automation and Robotics
Automation and robotics is the science of autonomous systems – from a robot arm in a factory and a smart home to a drone. At FERI in Maribor you learn how to design them, program them and bring them into the real world.
01 / How an autonomous system works
Autonomous systems: zaznavajo okolico, se sami odločajo in na svet tudi vplivajo – brez človeka. Vsak avtonomni sistem je zgrajen iz senzorjev, aktuatorjev in odločitvenega oziroma pametnega sistema.
The flashing blocks are clickable
Closed loop
02 / What you will study
Every course has its place in the loop you have just met. That way you always know why you are learning something.
Practicum in Automation and Robotics – Project
You bring it all together in your own project that runs through the whole programme.
The course list is based on presentation materials of the Institute of Automation. Courses of the master's programme Electrical Engineering, Automation and Robotics option, are based on the 2024/25 exam schedule; some of them are electives. The current curriculum is published at feri.um.si.
03 / Students' final theses
Final theses of automation and robotics students at UM FERI.
Design and implementation of an agile two-wheeled mobile robot with a movable upper body
The thesis designs and builds a two-wheeled robot with a movable upper body that balances itself, drives fast and overcomes obstacles. Balance is maintained by an LQI controller in a cascade loop on an STM32 microcontroller, and its operation is confirmed by simulations and tests on the real robot.
Simulation modelled on the interactive model at jontofant.github.io.
Fibre-optic tactile sensor with an application in harvesting small fruit
The thesis develops a fibre-optic touch sensor with four sensing units based on a Fabry–Pérot interferometer, embedded in a soft elastomer membrane that mimics the feel of human skin. The sensor reliably detects forces of up to 1.5 mN, so a robotic gripper holds raspberries firmly enough without crushing them.
Illustration: the force limits are approximate. The force compresses the membrane, the interferometer gap shortens and the spectrum shifts – this is how the sensor “feels” touch.
Control of a rotary inverted pendulum with a remote measuring point
The thesis builds a rotary inverted pendulum in which a microcontroller on the rotating part measures the rod angle and sends it via an NRF wireless module to the main controller. A PID controller, polynomial synthesis and a state-space controller are compared – the latter performed best, swinging the rod upright and holding it there.
Increase the delay of the wireless measurement and see when the controller can no longer handle the pendulum.
Optimisation of online tuning of controller parameters using hybrid fuzzy systems
The thesis investigates how hybrid fuzzy systems tune PID controller parameters online when the process is non-linear or changing. The best results came from combining fuzzy inference with particle swarm optimisation, which in simulations improved control compared with a classic PID controller.
Illustration: the process is more “sensitive” at high values. The classic PID overshoots there, while the fuzzy rules adapt the gain to the error and the operating point.
Use of a temperature controller with built-in artificial intelligence in industrial applications
The thesis tests an OMRON NX-TC industrial temperature controller with built-in artificial intelligence on a two-segment laboratory wind tunnel. On-off control, PID, 2-PID and adaptive control with self-tuning are compared; the work was supported by MIEL Elektronika.
Illustration: self-tuning first measures how the process oscillates with a short relay test, then computes the PID parameters by itself.
04 / Kje boš ustvarjal
V vsakem lahko delaš projekt, diplomo ali magistrsko nalogo – ob raziskovalcih, ki sodelujejo z industrijo.
Photonics, optical fibres and optical sensors. A clean room for microfabrication, a femtosecond laser and a fibre drawing tower. More than 30 years of experience.
Computer process control: PLC, SCADA and MES systems, fuzzy control, fault detection and smart buildings. Supervision of more than 100 bachelor's theses.
Radar signals, machine vision and remote sensing. Student projects range from drone detection to controlling a two-axis robot.
05 / Po diplomi
Graduates work wherever processes are automated and digitalised: in industry, energy, transport, research institutes and education – or they start their own company. Their competences also open the way to management positions.
Digital factory
Robots, PLCs, MES and ERP systems
Energy
Power plants, grids, renewables
Smart buildings
Monitoring, heating, infrastructure
Research and development
Sensors, photonics, embedded systems
Siemens · ABB · Yaskawa · National Instruments · Iskra · Kolektor · Domel · Metrel · Gorenje · Cinkarna · Impol · Corning · HSE · Seltron