Multimodal & Spatial Computing · core
Robotics Systems
Sensing, localization, mapping, planning, control, simulation, safety, real-time loops, and hardware interfaces.
Mental model
A robot closes the loop from sensing to state estimation to planning to control. Timing, uncertainty, physical safety, and simulation-to-real gaps dominate.
How to study Robotics Systems
Begin by restating the mental model in your own words, then connect it to a concrete system you have built or operated. Name the mechanism, the constraint it addresses, and the trade-off it introduces. Use Robotic Manipulation — Russ Tedrake (MIT 6.4210), Stanford Engineering Everywhere CS223A — Introduction to Robotics, Past, Present, and Future of Simultaneous Localization And Mapping to check details, but close the source before writing your explanation. Retrieval is the learning step; rereading is only preparation.
Next, compare Robotics Systems with Local & On-device Inference, Spatial Interfaces. Ask what changes in correctness, latency, resource use, operability, and failure recovery. Complete Design exercise: Robotics Systems and preserve the command, input, output, and one failed attempt as evidence. Finish by explaining the idea without jargon to someone who has not studied the track.
Proof of understanding
- Explain the mechanism from first principles and identify the state it reads or changes.
- Give one situation where the concept is the right choice and one where it is not.
- Predict a realistic failure mode before running the drill, then compare the prediction with evidence.
- Connect the result to a roadmap or build artifact instead of treating the concept as isolated trivia.
Learn from primary sources
Practice and explain it back
Design exercise: Robotics Systems
Sensing, localization, mapping, planning, control, simulation, safety, real-time loops, and hardware interfaces. Implement designOutline() returning non-empty values for: perception, planningControl, safety. Each value must name a concrete mechanism or decision.
Expected evidence: A design outline with perception, planningControl, safety plus an explicit failure mode or trade-off.
Open the interactive drill →Review prompts
- What is the sim-to-real gap, and what is the standard way of closing it?
Build evidence
Synthesize: Multimodal & Spatial Computing
Connect vision, audio, generation, on-device intelligence, robotics, spatial interfaces, and HCI. Produce one working system, benchmark, or evidence-backed design that integrates the path.
- Implements or precisely models the core mechanisms from all three milestones
- Includes at least one injected failure or adversarial case and demonstrates recovery
- Reports quality, latency, resource, reliability, or usability measurements relevant to the domain
- Ships a concise architecture note explaining decisions, trade-offs, and remaining risks