Meetup In 2 days
October
Saturday
14:00–17:00 2026 · San Francisco time
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Junfan Halloween Robotics: Building Maker Arm for Dream Lab's Dream-1. SF 10/31
Hosted by Junfan Zhu.
Junfan Halloween Robotics Core Theme: Maker Arm, developing open-source manipulator for Dream-1
Keynote: Ryan Chan - Co-founder, CEO @ MakerMods
World action models are opening new possibilities for language-guided manipulation, but turning a compelling demonstration into an accessible research platform requires more than a capable model. This talk shares the engineering perspective behind Maker Arm, an affordable, 3D-printed, quasi-direct-drive robot arm, and MakerMods’ work integrating Dream Labs’ Dream-1 with Maker Arm and Metal Arm. I’ll discuss mechanical design choices, teleoperation, camera setup, calibration, and the software needed to connect model outputs to physical actions. Through examples of language-guided manipulation, I’ll distinguish demonstrated capabilities from questions that require systematic evaluation, including task generalization, repeatability, and sensitivity to the physical setup. The central question is practical: how can we lower the cost and integration burden enough for more students and researchers to experiment with robot learning?
Pre-Readings
Location
San Francisco
Date & Time
Saturday, October 31, 2026 | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
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Agenda
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Door Opens & Social
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Keynote by Ryan Chan
YouTube Recording: TBD (We are looking for recording volunteers)
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Q&A, open-floor roundtable (10–20 min per topic) on spotlight papers or any paper you’d like to highlight. Feel free to share why the paper matters and its technical details.
Past events
🏆 Junfan Labs Robotics Hardware Hackathon #35: Capability Is Sprinting, Trust Is Tying Shoes
https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2114275003789451344?s=20
Join Junfan Labs WhatsApp Community
https://chat.whatsapp.com/IJ9RfDJHvc8KF9wMcEJWzl?s=cl&p=i&mlu=4&ilr=4
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Founders pitch
Founders pitch