Robotics & World Models Reading Club 10: Bringing Robots to Life — Learning Humanoid Instincts from the Body Up | San Francisco 0530

Robotics & World Models Reading Club 10: Bringing Robots to Life — Learning Humanoid Instincts from the Body Up | San Francisco 0530

A high-signal reading group for AI researchers & builders pushing the frontiers of robotic world models, WAMs, and embodied intelligence. In our previous sessions, we brought together researchers and engineers from Boston Dynamics, Google, NVIDIA, Stanford, UC Berkeley, CMU, Dyna, ByteDance, Tesla, Generalist, Rhoda AI, and leading Bay Area robotics startups.

Hosted by Junfan Zhu & Aurora Feng.

Supported by Neural Motion, a universal cross-embodiment data representation layer for embodied AI.

​Reading Club 10's Core Theme

Keynote by Haochen Shi (Final Year CS PhD Student at Stanford University, co-advised by Karen Liu & Shuran Song)

Recent advances in robotics have focused on scaling data and models, yet today’s robots still lack basic physical competencies like a human toddler, the ability to move through, learn from, and safely interact with the real world. I argue that bringing a robot to life begins not with larger models but with well-designed hardware and a small set of foundational instincts, including motor skills, compliant interaction, and exploration. I present ToddlerBot, a low-cost, open-source, ML-compatible humanoid platform that serves as both a physical body and a research instrument, along with three learned instincts built directly on it. I highlight systems for whole-body locomotion across challenging terrain using hands, knees, and elbows, compliant physical interaction using only motor current signals, and real-world skill learning guided by a robotic teacher. Together, these contributions represent a first step toward developing humanoid robots from the body upward through a progression of foundational instincts, a path toward bringing a robot to life.

​​​Pre-Readings

Minimalist Compliance Control: https://minimalist-compliance-control.github.io/A plug-and-play method that enables compliant behavior using only motor current or voltage signals, without force sensors, current control, or learning.

Locomotion Beyond Feet: https://locomotion-beyond-feet.github.io/A comprehensive system for whole-body humanoid locomotion across extremely challenging terrains.

Robot Trains Robot: Automatic Real-World Policy Adaptation and Learning for Humanoids: https://robot-trains-robot.github.io/A novel framework where a robotic arm teacher actively supports and guides a humanoid student.

ToddlerBot: Open-Source ML-Compatible Humanoid Platform for Loco-Manipulation: https://toddlerbot.github.io/A low-cost, open-source humanoid robot platform designed for scalable policy learning and research in robotics and AI.

​Location

San Francisco (Downtown)

​​​​Date & Time

Saturday, May 23, 2026 | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

​​​​​Join Discord Community

https://discord.gg/WH7DrTHRXK

​​​​Follow Saturday Robotics on X

https://x.com/saturdayrobotic

​​​​Agenda

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Door Opens & Social

• Food 😋, beverages🧋 and UNLIMITED strawberries 🍓 (our official reading club fruits ☺️😄).

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Keynote by Haochen Shi

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.

​​​Future events

#cvpr-denver-meetup-0606: Saturday Robotics CVPR & World Models Researchers Meetup—Denver 0606

• CVPR Denver Luma: https://luma.com/zamm9g2g

​Past events

#reading-club-08-0516: Embodied Human Data as the “Internet of Motion and Behavior”

• Session 08 Luma: https://luma.com/qoxioge7

#reading-club-07-0509: Learning to Dream: World Models, Imagination, Path to Foundation Models for Control

• Session 07 Luma: https://luma.com/srhe0vuo

#reading-club-06-0502: Evolution of Video World Models for Robotics

• Session 06 Luma: https://luma.com/sdrd4zwr

• Reading Club 06 Review: https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2050834699275383008?s=20

#reading-club-05-0425: World Models for Physical Intelligence: From Predictive Brains to Embodied Robots

• Session 05 Luma: https://luma.com/p7zvpyvg

• Reading Club 05 Review: https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2048315020946317710?s=20

• YouTube Recording: https://youtu.be/RVy6oQXNDgc?si=u2VLtCBjfdMvXaf-

#reading-club-04-0418: Abstractions of the Physical World for Decision-Making

• Session 04 Luma: https://luma.com/atv7bm3i

• Reading Club 04 Review: https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2045770010979905862

• YouTube Recording: https://www.youtube.com/@saturdayrobotic

#reading-club-03-0411: Robotic Policy Adaptation

• Session 03 Luma: https://luma.com/561xgirg

• Reading Club 03 Review: https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2043243484568768519?s=20

• YouTube Recording: https://www.youtube.com/@saturdayrobotic

#reading-club-02-0404: JEPA Zoo

• Session 02 Luma: https://luma.com/g3qrrti0

• Reading Club 02 Review (liked by Yann LeCun on X): https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2040716119259164673?s=20

#reading-club-01-0328

• Session 01 Luma: https://luma.com/8s4w1wu6

• Reading Club 01 Review (liked by Yann LeCun on X): https://x.com/junfanzhu98/status/2038153945219305812

​​​​Logistics

Spots are limited. Please arrive by 2:00 PM for check-in. Keynote will begin promptly at 2:30 PM.

• We currently do not have volunteers available to assist with late check-ins. Given the high volume of inquiries and 100+ attendees (both online and onsite), we kindly ask that you arrive on time to ensure smooth entry.