This page describes the practical lab component of the Summer Course on Robotics for Wildfires 2026. Here you will find the lab format, the hands-on topics, what you will build/test, and what you should prepare and bring. We will update this page as equipment availability and lab stations are confirmed.

Lab focus: From prototypes to real deployment

Wildfire environments are messy: smoke, low visibility, uneven terrain, time pressure, and unreliable communications. Our labs focus on field-ready robotics workflows, not only theory.

You will work in small groups on short, practical exercises that reflect real operational constraints, including:

  • Robust perception in degraded visibility (smoke/dust, low contrast)
  • SLAM & navigation under uncertainty (sensor fusion and failure cases)
  • Rugged ground robotics (mobility, stability, payload and power constraints)
  • Human-in-the-loop interfaces (wearables/AR cues, operator workload)
  • Decision-support pipelines (data → alerts → actionable decisions)

What you will

Do in the labs

Depending on the final equipment list and group size, labs will include combinations of:

  • Building and validating a mapping/localization pipeline with multi-sensor inputs
  • Running a navigation stack in constrained scenarios (limited visibility + obstacles)
  • Testing sensor robustness (dropouts, noise, miscalibration, partial failures)
  • Designing a simple operator-facing UI/UX for field decisions (alerts, confidence, priorities)
  • Short “mission-style” exercises: detect → localize → communicate → decide

Prerequisites (recommended)

This course is designed for Master/PhD students, researchers, and industry engineers. You don’t need to be an expert, but you should be comfortable with:

  • Basic programming (Python or C/C++)
  • Intro robotics concepts (frames, sensors, basic control)
  • Familiarity with Linux is helpful (not mandatory)

What to bring

  • Laptop (recommended: 16 GB RAM; Linux preferred; Windows OK for most tasks)
  • USB mouse (recommended for lab work)
  • Optional (if approved): your own sensors/robot platform for discussion/demo

A final required software list (and installation checklist) will be posted here closer to the course date.

Updates

This page will be updated with:

  • Final lab stations & datasets
  • Required software packages / installation guide
  • Safety/handling rules and lab schedule details

If you have accessibility or equipment needs, please contact the organizers via the event email.