Public research sourceCarnegie MellonRobotics Institute / Intelligent Control Lab
Carnegie Mellon SPARK: Human-Shaped Robot Safety
First understand what Carnegie Mellon researchers are trying to learn through Robotics Institute / Intelligent Control Lab, why the question matters, how they test it, and what the result cannot prove. Turn a simulated human-shaped robot's safety feature on and off, then compare whether it avoids obstacles and still finishes its task. The student then completes A humanoid safety-supervisor tool that balances task progress with clearance and explains every intervention. For a college application or interview, the student separates the source research from their feature, interface, tests, failures, and revisions. Available online or in person in Apgujeong, in one-to-one or small-group formats.
University and lab names show where each public project came from. CIT independently designed these courses; they are not official university courses, partnerships, or endorsements.
8guided sessions
10-20 hoursto the first small project
Advancedrecommended level
Not required for simulationphysical robot
Primary routes
Choose the student's primary AI education and portfolio route
CIT keeps the international-school route first, followed by the separate science and gifted-school route.
CIT lessons can run online across Korea and overseas or in person in Apgujeong. The student owns the question, code, tests and explanation; classes do not guarantee admission, selection or awards, and online delivery never changes an institution's submission rules.
Can a human-shaped robot finish its task while a safety feature keeps it away from people and obstacles?
Test a safety feature that stops a simulated human-shaped robot from getting too close to people and obstacles. Compare safety with task completion.
Students first use a small working example to understand the researchers' question, method, and evidence. A controlled change helps identify what the student's extension must solve. The student then implements a useful feature, connects an operator interface, and tests the integrated application in normal, boundary, and failure cases.
What will the student complete?
A humanoid safety-supervisor tool that balances task progress with clearance and explains every intervention
The final package includes runnable instructions, the feature and interface design, normal and failure tests, one documented revision, and a three-minute explanation in the student's own words.
Feature
A feature that slows or stops the robot as clearance shrinks and records when the safety system intervenes
Operator interface
A safety-supervisor screen showing clearance, task progress, interventions, and stop reasons with color and text
Integrated result
A humanoid safety-supervisor tool that balances task progress with clearance and explains every intervention
Four ideas explained in this course
01basic motion commands
02a safety feature that blocks risky motion
03distance from people and obstacles
04balancing success and safety
Eight introductory sessions
Understand the research, then build and test a working robotics application
The 20 courses are eight-session CIT studios in which students understand a public university or lab project, confirm a working example, and then turn it into a small robotics application with a useful feature and an operator interface. Selected courses add an optional LLM explanation tool that can read run records but cannot control the robot. RoboMaster has 28 sessions, and implementation scope is adjusted to each student's experience and computer access.
Understand the source
01
Run a prepared simulated humanoid
02
Review its pose and assigned task
Measure and compare
03
Define crash risks and safe distance
04
Compare basic motion with the safety feature
Build a feature
05
Change only the safe-distance setting
06
Implement the student-owned feature: A feature that slows or stops the robot as clearance shrinks and records when the safety system intervenes
Integrate and demonstrate
07
Build the operator interface: A safety-supervisor screen showing clearance, task progress, interventions, and stop reasons with color and text
08
Integrate, test, and demonstrate: A humanoid safety-supervisor tool that balances task progress with clearance and explains every intervention
Public project used in class
See the exact version CIT reviewed
Public projects can change over time. To keep the class example consistent, CIT uses version 2823c9ef3a35 of intelligent-control-lab/spark. CIT checked it on 2026-08-14; it was created on 2026-06-02. Usage-rights note: MIT.
The student tests a safety layer for robots working near people, in simulation only, and explains the trade-off between speed and clearance with numbers. In class the project is separated into five boxes (input, memory, process, output, control). The lesson opens one of them, changes one value, and leaves the rest closed.
InputWhat comes in?
Current joint values, the positions of nearby people or obstacles, and the command the robot was going to run
MemoryWhat persists?
The configuration that says which shapes stand in for the robot's body, and the safety index that keeps how dangerous the moment is as one number
Processopened hereWhat transforms?
The computation that replaces a command breaching the safety condition with the nearest safe one
OutputWhat leaves, and who uses it?
The final command sent to the robot or the simulator, and the record of whether it was changed
ControlWhat decides when anything runs?
The pipeline that calls task, policy, safety layer and robot in a fixed order every cycle
The files the lesson opens, by name. The course is not a walk through the repository; it opens a chosen few and says which.
One value moves and everything else stays. The right-hand column is the prediction written before the run, not a result; the work is reconciling the two.
The universities and labs named here made the open projects this course reads. CIT designed the course independently; it is not an official, affiliated, or endorsed course.
Clear answers about what students do, what they need, and where the project came from.
Is Carnegie Mellon SPARK: Human-Shaped Robot Safety an official course from Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, Intelligent Control Lab?
University and lab names show where each public project came from. CIT independently designed these courses; they are not official university courses, partnerships, or endorsements.
Is hardware required?
Not required for simulation. The course starts with a robot on the computer or a saved recording of a completed run. Computer guidance: Docker and GPU recommended.
What background should a student have?
Recommended level: Advanced. Students should be able to follow a guided Python example, test one controlled change, and then build and explain a small feature and interface.
What will the student make?
The completed project is A humanoid safety-supervisor tool that balances task progress with clearance and explains every intervention. The student implements A feature that slows or stops the robot as clearance shrinks and records when the safety system intervenes and A safety-supervisor screen showing clearance, task progress, interventions, and stop reasons with color and text.
How can the student use this project in a college application?
Explain the source research question, method, evidence, and limits first. Then separate the student's own feature and interface decisions, normal and failure tests, revisions, and next question. The source institution's name does not imply affiliation or guarantee admission.
Which project version does the course use?
CIT reviewed version 2823c9ef3a35 of intelligent-control-lab/spark on 2026-08-14. That version was created on 2026-06-02. We keep this version during class so the example does not change unexpectedly, and we check the setup again before teaching.
Can Carnegie Mellon SPARK: Human-Shaped Robot Safety be taken online or in person, one-to-one or in a small group?
Yes. This course is offered online and in person at CIT in Apgujeong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with one-to-one and small-group options. Placement and current availability are confirmed after a readiness consultation.
Is this a good first project for this student?
Before placement, we check the student's coding and math experience, available computer, interests, and ability to explain what happened.
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