Lectures

Overview

The lectures in ENPM605 follow a progressive structure, starting with Python fundamentals and building toward real-world robotics applications using ROS 2. Each lecture introduces new concepts through explanation, live demonstrations, and in-class exercises. Lecture materials, including slides and demo scripts, are available on Canvas and GitHub.

Tip

Review the demo scripts after each lecture and re-run them on your own machine. Experimenting with the code is the fastest way to internalize the concepts.

Schedule

Lecture	Topic	Key Concepts
L1	Course Introduction	Development environment setup, Python execution pipeline, variables, data types, mutability
L2	Python Fundamentals, Part I	Packages and imports, operators, boolean logic, strings, indexing and slicing, control flow
L3	Python Fundamentals, Part II	Lists, tuples, dictionaries, sets, loops, list comprehensions, copying
L4	Introduction to Functions	Function definition, arguments (positional, default, keyword, *args, **kwargs), scopes (LEGB), pass-by-assignment, type hints, recursion
L5	Advanced Functions	Programming paradigms, first-class functions, lambda expressions, closures, decorators, functools.wraps, functools.partial
L6	Object-Oriented Programming, Part I	OOP design phase, classes and objects, dunder methods, operator overloading, abstraction, encapsulation, @property
L7	Object-Oriented Programming, Part II	Class and static methods, association, aggregation, composition, inheritance, super(), polymorphism, duck typing, abstract base classes, @dataclass, __slots__, typing.Protocol
L8	Introduction to ROS 2	Distributed architecture, DDS middleware, QoS policies, pub/sub model (nodes, topics, messages), workspace setup, colcon builds, Python package creation, minimal and OOP-based nodes, spinning, timers, publishers, subscribers, communication timing scenarios
L9	Launch Files, Parameters, & Executors	Python launch files, advanced launch features (includes, conditionals, grouping, arguments), parameter lifecycle (declaration, retrieval, setting, runtime callbacks), single-threaded and multi-threaded executors, callback groups (mutually exclusive and reentrant), Python GIL
L10	Parameters, Custom Interfaces, Services & Actions	Parameter declaration, descriptors, callbacks, YAML parameter files, custom .msg/.srv/.action definitions, CMake interface packages, service servers and clients (sync vs async), action servers and clients, feedback, cancellation, communication pattern selection
L11	Coordinate Frames, TF2, and Mobile Robot Control	Pose representation (position, Euler angles, quaternions, gimbal lock), coordinate frames (REP 105), TF2 transform tree, static and dynamic broadcasters, transform listeners, Buffer and lookup_transform, Gazebo Harmonic simulation, RViz2 visualization, differential drive kinematics, cmd_vel/TwistStamped, odometry, proportional controllers, KDL frame composition, ArUco marker detection with PnP
L12	Namespaces, Remapping, and Behavior Trees	Namespaces (topic isolation, CLI __ns, launch file namespace), remapping (node, topic, parameter, CLI and launch file), behavior trees (composites, conditions, actions, decorators, py_trees, py_trees_ros, tick mechanism, memory flag, proportional controller integration)
L13	Mapping and Navigation with Nav2	Occupancy grid maps, map frame, SLAM with slam_toolbox, localization with AMCL, Nav2 stack (planner, controller, behavior tree, recovery), NavigateToPose action
L14	Lifecycle Nodes & ROS 2 Bags	Lifecycle node state machine (Unconfigured, Inactive, Active, Finalized), transition commands and callbacks, LifecycleNode, create_lifecycle_publisher, TransitionCallbackReturn (SUCCESS/FAILURE/ERROR), CLI-driven and programmatic transitions via the change_state service, ROS 2 bags (SQLite3 vs.MCAP storage, ros2 bag record / info / play, recording a Nav2 navigation run), Foxglove Studio for multi-panel offline visualization

Contents