WHERE, Walk the Future

The University of Trento and the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano will organize an intensive, hands-on summer school dedicated to the science and practice of legged locomotion — covering fundamental modeling, advanced control and learning, and culminating in experiments on a real quadruped robot.

Program of the Summer School 

• Lectures by leading robotic researchers on machine learning, control, perception, and planning for legged robots.
• Advanced lectures on dynamic control of quadrupeds, including whole-body and optimization-based approaches.
• Reduced-order modeling for locomotion, bridging theoretical foundations and practical motion generation.
• Optimal control and trajectory optimization methods, including real-time Model Predictive Control with feasibility and stability guarantees.
• State Estimation and Reinforcement Learning for robust performance under uncertainty and limited model knowledge.
• Hands-on sessions with state-of-the-art open-source tools for multi-body dynamics, visualization,  in Python and C++ using ROS.
• Integration, deployment, and evaluation of developed software on Unitree Aliengo and Unitree Go2 quadrupeds.
• Social and networking activities, including a social dinner and a trekking excursion in the Dolomites.
   

Target Group

PhD Students or last-year-M.Sc. with programming experience in C++ and/or Python.

Speakers

Michele Focchi - University of Trento DISI
Marco Frego  -  Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Giulio Turrisi - Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia 
Andrea Del Prete - University of Trento DII
Enrico Mingo - Inria Centre at Université de Lorraine - Nantes
Marco Camurri - University of Trento DII

How to Apply

Online registration is now open.

PhD students or last-year M.Sc. students from the University of Trento and the University of Bozen-Bolzano: Free of Charge

I-RIM Member:

Early Bird Registration (until 30th June 2026): €250 
Late Registration (1 July – 16 August 2026): €320

Regular:

Early Bird Registration (until 30th June 2026): €350 
Late Registration (1 July – 16 August 2026): €420

The fee covers: Lectures, access to robots, lunch and coffee break, welcome drinks, social dinner, and social program.

Selection Process

The number of participants is limited to ensure an optimal student-to-faculty ratio. Our scientific committee will do a selection based on titles and you will be notified of the outcome within one week after registration.

Organizing commitee

Prof.  Michele Focchi, University of Trento
Prof.  Marco Frego, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Dr.  Giulio Turrisi, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)

Accommodation in Trento

A list of partner hotels is available for download at the bottom of this page.

For more information

For general information (related to the application procedure and the school organisation) contact:

eventi-collina@unitn.it

For specific information (related to the proposed project and the contents of the summer school) contact:

where2026.disi@unitn.it