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Main Authors: Hoenig, Wolfgang, Scherer, Christoph, Wahba, Khaled
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.00032
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author Hoenig, Wolfgang
Scherer, Christoph
Wahba, Khaled
author_facet Hoenig, Wolfgang
Scherer, Christoph
Wahba, Khaled
contents We describe a novel masters-level projects class that teaches robotics along the traditional robotics pipeline (dynamics, state estimation, controls, planning). One key motivational part is that students have to directly apply the algorithms they learn on a highly constrained compute platform, effectively making a robot fly. We teach nonlinear algorithms as deployed in state-of-the-art flight stacks such as PX4. Didactically, we rely on two core concepts: 1) avoidance of provided black-box software infrastructure, and 2) usage of the safe and efficient programming language Rust that is used on the PC (for simulation) and an STM32 microcontroller (for robot deployment). We discuss our methodology and the student feedback over two years with ten students each. Teaching material: https://imrclab.github.io/teaching/flying-robots
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_00032
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Rusty Flying Robots: Learning a Full Robotics Stack with Real-Time Operation on an STM32 Microcontroller in a 9 ECTS MS Course
Hoenig, Wolfgang
Scherer, Christoph
Wahba, Khaled
Physics Education
Computers and Society
Robotics
We describe a novel masters-level projects class that teaches robotics along the traditional robotics pipeline (dynamics, state estimation, controls, planning). One key motivational part is that students have to directly apply the algorithms they learn on a highly constrained compute platform, effectively making a robot fly. We teach nonlinear algorithms as deployed in state-of-the-art flight stacks such as PX4. Didactically, we rely on two core concepts: 1) avoidance of provided black-box software infrastructure, and 2) usage of the safe and efficient programming language Rust that is used on the PC (for simulation) and an STM32 microcontroller (for robot deployment). We discuss our methodology and the student feedback over two years with ten students each. Teaching material: https://imrclab.github.io/teaching/flying-robots
title Rusty Flying Robots: Learning a Full Robotics Stack with Real-Time Operation on an STM32 Microcontroller in a 9 ECTS MS Course
topic Physics Education
Computers and Society
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.00032