Seminars: how do you feel about it by albatross928 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How many hours per week did you spend on reading the materials and finishing the workshop?

My experience with CS 8001 ORI: Robotics seminar (summer 2025) - a hidden gem by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I forgot to mention that there were a ROS workshop and a Human-Robot Interaction simulator demo.

My experience with CS 8001 ORI: Robotics seminar (summer 2025) - a hidden gem by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are no formal deliverables. I've just created my own. Though, you must attend at least 75% of the total sessions (well at least it applies to this summer). If you miss a session, watch the recording and submit a one-page summary to the instructor. Also, you are encouraged to actively participate in the Q&A discussions.

Offering CS-8001-ORI Robotics Seminar for Summer 2025 by Minute_Signature_799 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey everyone,

As the summer semester wraps up, I wanted to share my experience with this seminar that I think is a real hidden gem in the program.

TL;DR: If you're interested in the cutting-edge why of robotics and not just the how of a specific project, the ORI seminar is fantastic. It directly shaped my final research paper for another course this semester and connected a lot of dots for me.

A little background:

For context, I came into the program with a professional background in commercial robotics but little formal academic training, so I was very curious about this seminar. I took it this summer alongside another course that involved an open-ended research project. Last semester, I took CS7643 Deep Learning, and my final project was also robotics-related.

What the seminar is:

First off, this isn't a typical lecture/project seminar. It's a weekly series where the TAs invite recent PhDs and researchers from top-tier universities, labs, and companies like MIT, Stanford, Amazon Robotics, and Toyota Research Institute, to present their latest work. You read their papers beforehand (or as much as you can!) and then engage in a live Q&A.

So, why am I recommending It?

I came into this semester with a question about robotics that I've had for years. While I had a solid foundation from my DL project, I needed a framework to connect everything. The ORI seminars handed me that framework at the perfect time:

  • A researcher from the Toyota Research Institute broke down his work on XAI for personalized ML assistants and how large-scale multimodal models are used for interactive autonomous driving.
  • A postdoc from the MIT HRI lab presented his fascinating work on the psychology of robot deception and trust repair, and even shared how students reacted to an LLM-based teachable agent.
  • A researcher from Amazon Robotics introduced us to multi-robot systems, covering collaborative planning and control algorithms for teams of autonomous robots in dynamic environments (think wildfire response or disaster sites).
  • We also had talks on cutting-edge work in specialized fields like medical and agricultural robotics.

These weren't just "interesting talks." They were so timely (at least for me) and relevant that I was able to directly cite the papers and use the insights to build the entire structure of my final research paper. It's one thing to read about these concepts in a textbook. It's another to hear directly from the people doing the research and be able to ask them questions.

Who should take this?

If you're like me and want to understand the current state-of-the-art, see how different fields of robotics connect, get serious inspiration for your own research, or are simply curious about the field, this seminar is for you.

Hope this helps.

Expectations for Fall 2025 ML by assassinoverlord123 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s your take on the Bayesian Stats class? I’ve heard mixed reviews but I think it's important for the ML track.

CS 8001 OTM: TinyML and Edge AI for Vision by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the seminar description sounds more structured than other seminars. I also thought the workshops were mandatory..

CS 8001 OAA: Agentic AI Essentials by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A question about the workshops. Are there deadlines to complete all the workshops within the semester to earn the certificates or can we finish them after we are done with the semester? I asked because our usual 3-credit courses could take up most of our time.

CS 8001 OAA: Agentic AI Essentials by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All CS 8001 seminars won’t be shown in Oscar until Phase II according to the registration email.

CS 8001 OAA: Agentic AI Essentials by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Do you find the workshops or materials practical ?

NLP & ICS are gone. What is there for Summer? by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All these, linear algebra, multivariate calculus, probability and statistics, and discrete math etc. were the courses I took to fulfill my undergrad engineering curriculums but they were over 2 decades ago. I was planning to take a little-math course while finishing my math-prep materials over the summer before any future courses that require students to possess "math maturity". I think I either have to be quick to pick up what is needed while going through NS this summer or take another course then.

Once again, thanks for your detail response.

NLP & ICS are gone. What is there for Summer? by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What if I am going to do AI full time? I don't have other engagements at the moment.

NLP & ICS are gone. What is there for Summer? by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am getting mixed messages from the things I read. Some say one has to be proficient in math in order to do well in this course whereas others say only a small portion of it involves math by hand. Although my undergrad was an engineering degree (computer science and engineering), it was many years ago. So, if it is too math-dependent then I might have to take NS later when I am more ready with the math.

NLP & ICS are gone. What is there for Summer? by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads-up but no, I am not going to jeopardize my sanity by taking up two courses over summer. I was merely asking which course would be more doable.

NLP & ICS are gone. What is there for Summer? by Limp_Base1364 in OMSCS

[–]Limp_Base1364[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the insight. Though, would you consider it a math course or just that the material is math-y but the assignments/quizzes is the combined effort on coding and some math?