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Course Schedule​

Lecture slides are posted here and on Piazza a day before the lecture starts. All due dates are at 11:59 PM ET.

DateLectureOptional ReadingsLogisticsTopic Groups
08/26Lecture 1: Course Introduction: What is Robot Learning? [slides][Building Machines That Learn and Think Like People]🔴 Introduction
08/28Lecture 2: Robot Learning: An Overview [slides][RL Textbook, Ch 1]🔴 Introduction
09/02Lecture 3: ML/DL Refresher Part 1 [slides][DL Textbook, Ch 5-10]HW1 Out🟠 ML/DL Refresher
09/04Lecture 4: ML/DL Refresher Part 2 [slides][DL Textbook, Ch 5-10]🟠 ML/DL Refresher
09/09Lecture 5: MDP Basics and Imitation Learning Part 1 [slides][ICML Tutorial][An Invitation to Imitation]🟣 Imitation Learning
09/11Lecture 6: Imitation Learning Part 2 [slides][DAgger][GAIL][Diffusion Policy][pi-zero]🟣 Imitation Learning
09/16Lecture 7: RL Basics: Value/Policy Iteration [slides][RL Textbook, Ch 3-4][Key Concepts in RL][Kinds of RL Algorithms]🟢 Model-Free RL
09/18Lecture 8: Q-Learning and Variants [slides][RL Textbook, Ch 5-7][DQN]HW1 Due; HW2 Out🟢 Model-Free RL
09/23Lecture 9: Policy Gradient Methods [slides][RL Textbook, Ch 13][Intro to Policy Gradient]🟢 Model-Free RL
09/25Lecture 10: Actor-Critic Methods [slides][RL Textbook, Ch 13]🟢 Model-Free RL
09/30Lecture 11: Advanced RL Algorithms Part 1 [slides][PPO][TRPO][DDPG][SAC]🟢 Model-Free RL
10/02Lecture 12: Advanced RL Algorithms Part 2 [slides]HW2 Due; HW3 Out🟢 Model-Free RL
10/07Lecture 13: Model-Based Control Basics [slides][Feedback Systems Textbook]🔵 Model-Based RL
10/09Lecture 14: Optimal Control and Planning Part 1 [slides][Murray's Notes][iLQR][DDP][SCP][DIAL-MPC]🔵 Model-Based RL
10/14Fall BreakProject Proposal Due⛱️
10/16Fall Break⛱️
10/21Lecture 15: Optimal Control and Planning Part 2 [slides][PETS][Neural-Control Family][MPPI][PILCO][MBPO]🔵 Model-Based RL
10/23Lecture 16: Deep Model-Based RL [slides][Dreamer][TD-MPC]🔵 Model-Based RL
10/28Lecture 17: Bandits and Preference-Based Learning [slides][RL Textbook, Ch 2][Dueling Bandits]HW3 Due; HW4 Out🟡 Bandits and Exploration
10/30Lecture 18: Exploration [slides][Curiosity][RND]🟡 Bandits and Exploration
11/04Democracy Day🗳️
11/06Lecture 19: Inverse RL [slides][Maximum Entropy IRL][LP-IRL]⚪ RL from Offline Data
11/11Lecture 20: Offline RL [slides][NeurIPS Tutorial][IQL][Diffuser]⚪ RL from Offline Data
11/13Lecture 21: Robot Simulation and Sim2Real (Yufei Wang) [slides][Genesis][Domain Randomization][Champion-Level Drone Racing]HW4 Due🟤 Specialized Topics
11/18Lecture 22: Safe RL and Safe Robot Learning [slides][Safe Robot Learning Survey][Data-Driven Safety Filters]🟤 Specialized Topics
11/20Lecture 23: Multi-Task/Adaptable/Transferable Robot Learning [slides][Teacher-Student][RMA][Neural-Fly]🟤 Specialized Topics
11/25Lecture 24: Humanoid Learning (Carlo Sferrazza) [slides]🟤 Specialized Topics
11/27Thanksgiving🦃
12/01Lecture 25: Student Project Presentations (special time, 5-6:30pm, at Wean Hall 7500 Learning Hall)⚫ Project
12/02Lecture 26: Student Project Presentations⚫ Project
12/12Project Report Due✨