Related papers: REMS: Middleware for Robotics Education and Develo…
In this paper, we will discuss the design and implementation of three educational robotics workshops that focus on the use of robotics for addressing real-world societal problems. Through the workshops, we aimed to investigate how the…
The Robot Operating System (ROS) has become the de facto standard middleware in robotics, widely adopted across domains ranging from education to industrial applications. The RoboStack distribution, a conda-based packaging system for ROS,…
Robotics is incredibly fun and is long recognized as a great way to teach programming, while drawing inspiring connections to other branches of engineering and science such as maths, physics or electronics. Although this symbiotic…
Combinatorial optimization problems (COPs) with discrete variables and finite search space are critical across numerous fields, and solving them in metaheuristic algorithms is popular. However, addressing a specific COP typically requires…
As robots become more adaptable, responsive, and capable of interacting with humans, the design of effective human-robot collaboration becomes critical. Yet, this design process is typically led by monodisciplinary approaches, often…
We present our approach to teaching functional programming to First Year Computer Science students at Middlesex University through projects in robotics. A holistic approach is taken to the curriculum, emphasising the connections between…
Pre-trained robot policies serve as the foundation of many validated robotic systems, which encapsulate extensive embodied knowledge. However, they often lack the semantic awareness characteristic of foundation models, and replacing them…
Simulation-based reinforcement learning (RL) has significantly advanced humanoid locomotion tasks, yet direct real-world RL from scratch or adapting from pretrained policies remains rare, limiting the full potential of humanoid robots.…
Robots are widespread across diverse application contexts. Teaching robots to perform tasks, in their respective contexts, demands a high domain and programming expertise. However, robot programming faces high entry barriers due to the…
This paper introduces a new hybrid framework that combines Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to improve robotic manipulation tasks. By utilizing RL for accurate low-level control and LLMs for high level task…
This paper presents a work-in-progress on a learn-ing system that will provide robotics students with a personalized learning environment. This addresses both the scarcity of skilled robotics instructors, particularly in community colleges…
This paper presents an open-source, lightweight, yet comprehensive software framework, named RPC, which integrates physics-based simulators, planning and control libraries, debugging tools, and a user-friendly operator interface. RPC…
Program synthesis aims to automatically generate an executable program that conforms to the given specification. Recent advancements have demonstrated that deep neural methodologies and large-scale pretrained language models are highly…
Teaching Robotics is about empowering students to create and configure robotics devices and program computers to nurture in students the skill sets necessary to play an active role in society. The robot in Figure 1 focuses on the design of…
Electronic structure simulation (ESS) has been used for decades to provide quantitative scientific insights on an atomistic scale, enabling advances in chemistry, biology, and materials science, among other disciplines. Following standard…
Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents have demonstrated their potential across various robotic tasks. However, they still heavily rely on human-engineered reward functions, requiring extensive trial-and-error and access to target behavior…
To prepare students for upcoming trends and challenges, it is important to teach them about the helpful and important aspects of modern technologies, such as robotics. However, classic study programs often fail to prepare students for…
Recently, introducing computer science and educational robots in compulsory education has received increasing attention. However, the use of screens in classrooms is often met with resistance, especially in primary school. To address this…
STEAM education integrates Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics to foster creativity and problem-solving. However, students with visual impairments (VI) encounter significant challenges in programming and robotics,…
Training and deploying reinforcement learning (RL) policies for robots, especially in accomplishing specific tasks, presents substantial challenges. Recent advancements have explored diverse reward function designs, training techniques,…