Start here – Learners

Guide for learners

Use Duckietown to teach, learn, and do research. 

Learn robot autonomy with Duckietown

Want to learn autonomy.. in autonomy? You might be a Makademic!

Makademics are a fusion of “makers” and “academics” (yes, we just made this up).

You are a Makademic if you want to learn and build on your own, outside of an educational institution, and also want a deep understanding of how things are working.

You can learn about robotics and AI by building your own Duckietown and using all of the course materials at your own pace.

Duckietown is learning autonomy: we provide a unique hands-on learning experience, and an international community to bounce off ideas with.

Makademic next steps

  1. Join the Duckietown Slack and gain immediate access to the Duckietown community
  2. Join the massive open online course “Self-Driving Cars with Duckietown” on EdX (learn more)
  3. Get the hardware



1. Join our Slack



2. Join the MOOC



3. Get the hardware

Teaching the Duckietown class was a wonderful experience for me and my students. The materials are great and the hands-on experience with the robot really helps reinforce the curriculum.

Matthew R. Walter, Prof.

Matthew R. Walter, Prof.Robot Intelligence through Perception Laboratory (RIPL)
Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago

Starting from MIT CSAIL, Duckietown has grown into a global initiative that is inspiring students around the world to learn about self-driving cars, as well as the science and engineering of autonomy.

Daniela Rus, Prof.

Daniela Rus, Prof.Director, Computer Science and AI Lab (CSAIL)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Duckietown class is the autonomous driving pie: the filling is hardcore robotics, the casing is artificial intelligence, and as a plus, you get some funny ducks on top!

Manfred Diaz

Manfred DiazPh. D. Candidate
University of Montreal

If University were like learning how to play a new instrument, where lessons are the exercises and exams the final auditions, Duckietown would be the full-blown rock concert, where you play for your fans and look to your heroes with admiration.

Gioele Zardini

Gioele ZardiniPh. D. Candidate
ETH Zurich

Duckietown was much more than just a class, it was a hands-on deep dive into hardware, software, and systems integration, and, most of all, it was a blast!

Teddy Ort, Ph. D.

Teddy Ort, Ph. D.Senior Director
Robot Perception and AI at Symbotic

Spending the summer in Duckietown at MIT made me discover a completely new world: I understood that education can be a game and learning can be fun!

Valeria Cagnina

Valeria CagninaYoung Enterpreneur

Great platform and solid e-learning experience!

Benjamin Sawicki

Benjamin SawickiCoordinator Knowledge & Technology Transfer
NCCR Automation

Highly recommended. I joined the first cohort of “Self-Driving Cars with Duckietown” and loved it.

Manuel Heredia Ortiz

Manuel Heredia OrtizVice President, PhD, Executive MBA
Airbus

Very excited to be a part of the upcoming edition of “Self-Driving Cars with Duckietown”. In the last edition, my students and I enjoyed learning of many new topics with hands-on experience. All the student team had a very good experience. Amazing support by Duckietown!

Kishanprasad Gunale

Kishanprasad GunaleAssitant Professor
MIT College of Engineering, Pune

Thanks to the extraordinary learning and research platform Duckietown from ETHZurich, TTI Chicago, University of Montreal and the helpful around-the-hour support from the Duckietown core team #BFH was able to successfully introduce its BSc automotive engineering students in the exciting world of autonomous driving!

Peter Affolter, Prof.

Peter Affolter, Prof.Head of Department Automotive Engineering
Berner Fachhochschule BFH