Deon Menezes AI Harness Engineer
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From the Reel · Free robotics course list

Learn robotics for free.

Six YouTube videos in order, from the maths every robot runs on to building and training your own robot arm. About 9 hours in total, from Stanford, MIT, Y Combinator and three more teachers.

Start with lesson 1 Watch the full list

  1. 01 Stanford
  2. 02 ROS 2
  3. 03 Build an SO-101 arm
  4. 04 Robot learning
  5. 05 MIT manipulation
  6. 06 Chelsea Finn at YC

The list

Six lessons, beginner to frontier.

Watch them here or on YouTube. Every video belongs to the channel named under it. View counts as of October 2026.

  1. 01Beginner

    Lecture 1 | Introduction to Robotics

    By Stanford

    58:11 · 775K views as of Oct 2026 · uploaded July 2008

    The classic first course: Oussama Khatib's Stanford CS223A. Lecture 1 starts a full 16-lecture series on kinematics, dynamics and control, the maths every robot runs on.

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  2. 02Beginner

    Learn ROS 2: Beginner to Advanced Course (Concepts and Code)

    By Kevin Wood | Robotics & AI

    2:37:47 · 343K views as of Oct 2026 · uploaded January 2025

    ROS 2 is the software layer real robots are built on. One course takes you from install to topics, services, actions, packages and launch files, with code.

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  3. 03Beginner to Intermediate

    SO101 Full Beginner Course: build & train AI robotic arms

    By Brogan M. Pratt

    2:34:23 · 32.7K views as of Oct 2026 · uploaded April 2026

    Build an SO-101, the low-cost open-source arm that Hugging Face LeRobot supports: 3D printing, assembly, software setup, then training your first autonomous policy with imitation learning.

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  4. 04Intermediate

    Modern Robot Learning From Scratch | New Course Launch

    By Vizuara

    35:43 · 15.3K views as of Oct 2026 · uploaded November 2025

    The launch lecture of Vizuara's free Modern Robot Learning From Scratch series: imitation learning, transformers for robotics, ACT policy and simulation.

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  5. 05Intermediate to Advanced

    Lecture 1: MIT 6.4210/6.4212 Robotic Manipulation (Fall 2022) | "Anatomy of a manipulation system"

    By underactuated (Russ Tedrake's MIT course channel)

    1:29:59 · 27.2K views as of Oct 2026 · uploaded September 2022

    Russ Tedrake's MIT 6.4210 Robotic Manipulation, lecture 1: how a full manipulation system fits together, from perception to planning to control. The whole course is on the same channel.

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  6. 06Advanced · Frontier

    Chelsea Finn: Building Robots That Can Do Anything

    By Y Combinator

    44:52 · 107K views as of Oct 2026 · uploaded July 2025

    Chelsea Finn (Stanford, co-founder of Physical Intelligence) at Y Combinator on where robot foundation models are going. The big picture after the basics.

    Watch on YouTube ↗

How to use this list

Go in order. Build at lesson 3.

  1. Start at lesson 1.The list runs from beginner to frontier. Stanford's lecture 1 opens a 16-lecture series, so keep going on that course if the maths clicks.
  2. Learn ROS 2 next.Lesson 2 is the software layer real robots are built on: topics, services, actions, packages and launch files, with code you can follow.
  3. Build the SO-101 arm at lesson 3.The course goes from 3D printing and assembly to software setup and training your first autonomous policy with imitation learning.
  4. Understand what you trained.Lesson 4 covers imitation learning, transformers for robotics, ACT policy and simulation. It is the launch lecture of Vizuara's free series of the same name.
  5. See the whole system.Lesson 5 shows how perception, planning and control fit together in a manipulation system. The full MIT course is on the same channel.
  6. Finish with the big picture.Lesson 6 is Chelsea Finn on where robot foundation models are going, once you know the basics.

Six videos. About 9 hours. All free.

Watch one tonight. Build the arm next. Start with lesson 1