Ready. Set. Let it fly!
From autonomous vacuum cleaners to cars with self-driving capabilities, many commercially available robots have impressive features under the hood. This course will teach you how to build a robot of your own – a micro quadcopter drone – and program it to fly itself across an arena.
Through hands-on experimentation, you’ll learn the ins and outs of autonomous systems by working with both hardware and software to assemble your robot and imbue it with intelligence.
Experiential learners will thrive in this week-long session that limits lectures in favor of practical application.
2025 Pre-College SummerDATES COSTS APPLICATION DEADLINES |
Experiential Learning
Learn how to assemble and program a Crazyflie™ to locate and precisely land on a platform with the help of minimal sensory information. During this session, you will:
- Develop your programming skills
- Learn basic drone flight mechanics
- Debug hardware and software
- Practice safe flight testing and landing procedures
Instructor
William Stewart, PhD
Assistant Professor
William Stewart joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Fall of 2022. Prof. Stewart’s research interest primarily lies in multimodal robotics. In particular, he is interested in eclectic robot design, drawing principles from a wide range of sources such as soft robotics, biology, and science fiction. He aims to develop new technologies that can expand the capabilities of aerial, ground, underwater, and soft robotics in challenging environments, increasing overall robustness and safety.
