The Forge · engineering, computing & technology
Robotics & Automation
Sensing, planning, and motion — building machines that act in the physical world.
Motors, sensors, and a simple controller — your first robot that responds to its world.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~18 hours
Unit I — Anatomy of a Robot
Sensors, controllers, and actuators · Motors and gears · Power and batteries
Unit II — Sensing the World
Bump switches and distance sensors · Line and light sensors · Reading noisy signals
Unit III — Behavior
Sense-then-react programming · Line following · Obstacle avoidance · A small arena challenge
Joints, frames, and feedback — the geometry of an arm and the loop that keeps it steady.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~36 hours
Unit I — Describing Motion
Coordinate frames and transforms · Forward kinematics · Inverse kinematics
Unit II — Feedback
Open-loop vs. closed-loop · The PID controller · Tuning and stability
Unit III — Dynamics and Trajectories
Velocities and Jacobians · Trajectory planning · Force control and compliance
Localization, mapping, and path planning — how a machine knows where it is and decides where to go.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~40 hours
Unit I — Where Am I
Odometry and drift · Probabilistic localization · SLAM in outline
Unit II — What Do I See
Lidar, cameras, and sensor fusion · Obstacle detection · Working under uncertainty
Unit III — Where To Go
Grid and graph search: A* · Sampling-based planning · Behavior architectures · Safety and fail-stops
Ladder logic, conveyors, and interlocks — the programmable controllers that run every factory floor.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — The Controller
What a PLC is and why factories trust it · Inputs, outputs, and scan cycles · Ladder logic fundamentals
Unit II — The Line
Sensors and actuators at industrial scale · Timers, counters, and sequencing · Human-machine interfaces
Unit III — Discipline
Interlocks and emergency stops · Fault handling · Commissioning and documentation