🗓️ First cohort kicks off virtually on Monday, September 22, 2025
📍 In-person sessions held Saturdays at Portland State University, Science and Education Center Dates: 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18
👨🏫 Taught Live By:
Dr. Joseph Cole
PhD in Applied Physics, former Northrop Grumman engineer, with 20+ years developing vision systems and machine learning algorithms for real-world applications.
Duncan Miller
Software engineer, EdTech founder, and STEM educator. Duncan coaches teams in FIRST Robotics (FTC) and mentors student startups at Portland State University Business Accelerator.
🧠 What You’ll Learn
Week 1: Vision Systems & Perception
How robots “see” the world using cameras, sensors, and computer vision.
Week 2: Imitation Learning
Train your robot by showing it what to do — using Transformer Neural Networks.
Week 3: Reinforcement Learning
Use reward-based strategies and simulation to teach robots to navigate and make decisions.
Week 4: Final Project
Build and present an original AI behavior — with live feedback from expert instructors.
🤖 Hardware Kit: Build + Take Home
This sprint isn’t just about learning theory — you’ll build and work with your own AI-powered robot throughout the course.
Each participant will purchase a mobile robotics hardware kit and attach sensors designed for:
- Computer vision
- Sensor-based navigation
- Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)
💰 Estimated Kit Cost: ~$1,260
(Final pricing to be confirmed. Students keep the robot after the course.)
✅ Included in Your Enrollment
- 4 live sessions (Saturdays)
- Weekly projects with GitHub-based code review
- Instructor access via office hours + discussion board
- Certificate of Completion + LinkedIn endorsements
- Private cohort discussion board for collaboration and support
- Portfolio-ready final project for resumes or competitions
🎯 Who This Is For
This sprint is ideal for:
- College students (or advanced high school) looking to go beyond coursework
- Career changers breaking into robotics, ML, or autonomy
- Software engineers ready to move from web apps to real-world machines
🔍 Prerequisites
This sprint is open to anyone ready to get hands-on with real robotics and AI. That said, students with the following background will be most comfortable:
- Some experience with Linux (Ubuntu preferred)
- Basic Python scripting
- Familiarity with Git (commits, branching, merging)
If you've coded in Python, tinkered with a Raspberry Pi, joined a robotics club, or SSH'd into a Linux server — you're in a great spot to succeed.
📍 Location
Portland State University
Science and Education Center
2130 SW 5th Ave
Portland, OR 97201
💰 Pricing
$495 — $500 off for first 5 students (only 4 left)
$995 — Full Cohort Price
+ Hardware Kit (~$1,260) — learn more in our GitHub repository
Financial aid available for underrepresented students and mission-driven projects.
⏳ Only 10 Seats
This is a selective, live-taught program with limited enrollment to ensure quality mentorship and technical feedback.
No fluff. No passive learning. Just real robotics, real tools, and real outcomes — in just four weeks.
