392148 Robot Learning in the Age of Foundation Models (S) (SoSe 2026)
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Robot learning is currently being reshaped by foundation models: large-scale pretraining, generalist policies, and the integration of vision-language models with robot control. This seminar provides a structured introduction to modern vision-language-action (VLA) models and focuses on the practical design choices that determine whether such models work reliably on real robots. We will start from the basics of modern imitation learning (behavioral cloning) and cover key policy families for robot manipulation, including action chunking transformers and diffusion/flow-based policies. Building on this, we will discuss what matters in learning from demonstrations, with an emphasis on data composition and coverage, action parameterization (joints vs cartesian, delta vs absolute, tokenizers, ...), inference-time speed-ups, and the trade-offs between autoregressive and generative (diffusion/flow) action generation. We will also introduce recent ideas for robust adaptation, such as dual-system VLAs and knowledge insulation, and give a light overview of how experience-based fine-tuning can further improve performance.
Teaching staff
Dates ( Calendar view )
| Frequency | Weekday | Time | Format / Place | Period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| weekly | Mo | 14-16 | CITEC 1.015 | 13.04.-24.07.2026 |
Subject assignments
| Module | Course | Requirements | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39-M-Inf-AI-app-foc_a Applied Artificial Intelligence (focus) Applied Artificial Intelligence (focus) | Applied Artificial Intelligence (focus): application-oriented seminar 1 | Study requirement
|
Student information |
| Applied Artificial Intelligence (focus): application-oriented seminar 2 | Student information | ||
| - | Graded examination | Student information | |
| 39-M-Inf-ASE-app-foc_a Applied Autonomous Systems Engineering (focus) Applied Autonomous Systems Engineering (focus) | Applied Autonomous Systems Engineering (focus): Application-oriented seminar 1 | Study requirement
|
Student information |
| Applied Autonomous Systems Engineering (focus): Application-oriented seminar 2 | Student information | ||
| - | Graded examination | Student information | |
| 39-M-Inf-INT-app-foc_a Applied Interaction Technology (focus) Applied Interaction Technology (focus) | Applied Interaction Technology (focus): Application-oriented seminar 1 | Study requirement
|
Student information |
| Applied Interaction Technology (focus): Application-oriented seminar 2 | Student information | ||
| - | Graded examination | Student information |
The binding module descriptions contain further information, including specifications on the "types of assignments" students need to complete. In cases where a module description mentions more than one kind of assignment, the respective member of the teaching staff will decide which task(s) they assign the students.
The seminar will start with two introductory lectures. Each week, one student will present a research paper from the reading list and lead the discussion. At the end of the semester, each student has the option to submit an essay surveying related literature to obtain extra credit.
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- Last update basic details/teaching staff:
- Friday, January 30, 2026
- Last update times:
- Thursday, March 5, 2026
- Last update rooms:
- Thursday, March 5, 2026
- Type(s) / SWS (hours per week per semester)
- seminar (S) / 2
- Language
- This lecture is taught in english
- Department
- Faculty of Technology
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