Class Schedule
Period-by-period schedule · 4 weeks · 8 sessions · 48 periods
// CLASS SCHEDULE · 课程时间表
2 sessions per week (Monday + Wednesday) · 6 periods per session · 48 in-class periods total.
梁俊睿 Theory & SW/HW fundamentals
Daniel Design & fabrication
Shimon HW/SW + LLM lab
JunJun Character design
Espressif Guest — ESP32 & ecosystem
Prof. Zhou Entrepreneurship & pitching
★ Demo Day Final presentations
WEEK 1 · CONCEIVE / 构思
SESSION 1 · MONDAY · 6-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | Course introduction · overview of the 4-week arc · team formation | 梁俊睿 Shimon Daniel |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | Embedded systems & IoT fundamentals · meet the ESP32 | 梁俊睿 |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | Guest: Character by design — lecture & sketching exercises (Part 1) | JunJun |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Guest: Character by design — LLM generative tools (Part 2) | JunJun |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Open studio: form exploration · concept sketching | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | Industrial design intro: form follows function · sketching exercise | Shimon Daniel |
SESSION 2 · WEDNESDAY · 8-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | LLMs & conversational AI fundamentals · how robots think | 梁俊睿 |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | ESP-Claw framework overview · architecture & design patterns | 梁俊睿 |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | ESP32 first contact: hardware setup · GPIO · breadboard wiring | Shimon Daniel |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Firmware lab: Hello World — display output & LED blink | Shimon Daniel |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Robot concept ideation workshop · user persona · target need | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | Brief poster session — all teams present robot concept (3 min each) | All |
WEEK 2 · DESIGN / 设计
SESSION 3 · MONDAY · 13-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | OpenRouter APIs & LLM system architecture | 梁俊睿 |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | MCP protocol · cloud/LLM integration patterns · Xiaozhi | 梁俊睿 |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | Electronics lab: wiring sensors · displays & actuators | Shimon Daniel |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Firmware lab: LLM integration via OpenRouter — first response on device | Shimon Daniel |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Prompt engineering: system prompts · personality · language tuning | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | 3D modeling intro · enclosure concept sketches | Shimon Daniel |
SESSION 4 · WEDNESDAY · 15-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | Design critique: prototype review & form iteration | Shimon Daniel |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | Form development workshop: translating personality into shape | Shimon Daniel |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | Guest: ESP32 ecosystem deep dive (Part 1) | Espressif |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Guest: ESP-Claw tooling · AI integration & partner ecosystem (Part 2) | Espressif |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Integration lab: hardware + firmware + LLM end-to-end | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | Open studio: prototype build & iteration | Shimon Daniel |
WEEK 3 · BUILD / 制造
SESSION 5 · MONDAY · 20-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | Guest: Entrepreneurship & the startup ecosystem (Part 1) | Prof. Zhou |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | Guest: How to pitch to VCs & stakeholders for buy-in (Part 2) | Prof. Zhou |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | Full system integration lab: all components running together | Shimon Daniel |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Debugging & stress-testing: 10-minute continuous run | Shimon Daniel |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | User testing: live sessions with people outside the class | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | 3D printing: finalize enclosure design & submit print job | Shimon Daniel |
SESSION 6 · WEDNESDAY · 22-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | 3D print assembly & fit check · hardware mounting | Shimon Daniel |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | Enclosure refinement · cable routing · structural review | Shimon Daniel |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | User test debrief: what confused people? What delighted them? | Shimon Daniel |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Rapid iteration: top-3 fixes from user testing | Shimon Daniel |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Demo rehearsal: 2-minute run-through x3 (rotate presenters) | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | Open lab: last build time & loose ends | Shimon Daniel |
WEEK 4 · PITCH IT ★ / 展示
SESSION 7 · MONDAY · 27-JUL
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | Guest: Presentation coaching: story · structure & slide design (Part 1) | Prof. Zhou |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | Guest: Presentation coaching: Q&A prep & live feedback (Part 2) | Prof. Zhou |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | Poster review: content · layout & print finalization | Shimon Daniel |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Demo hardening: run-throughs · backup power · reboot plan | Shimon Daniel |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Full pitch rehearsal with instructor feedback (5 min + Q&A) | Shimon Daniel |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | Last design polish · submit poster print file | Shimon Daniel |
SESSION 8 · WEDNESDAY · 29-JUL · ★ DEMO DAY
| # | Time | Topic | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ Morning | |||
| 1 | 10:15–11:00 | Open prep: last fixes · final tests · poster check | All |
| 2 | 11:10–11:55 | Open prep: rehearsal & troubleshooting | All |
| ▸ Afternoon | |||
| 3 | 13:00–13:45 | Setup: tables · displays · power · poster mounting | All |
| 4 | 13:55–14:40 | Setup complete · buffer · final system check | All |
| 5 | 15:00–15:45 | Final presentations — poster session & live robot demos (guests circulate) | All |
| 6 | 15:55–16:40 | Final presentations — full-group pitches (5 min each) & Q&A | All |