This summer, for the first time, we’re participating in the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program. As part of this global initiative to support open-source development, we’re proud to welcome two talented contributors: Enrico Moro and Shouyue Hu.
Their projects aim to create new tools that simplify robot prototyping and bring reinforcement learning to life through interactive visualization. But beyond the code, GSoC also reflects our ongoing commitment to open innovation and to mentoring the next generation of robotics researchers.
Why GSoC and why PAL Robotics?
For both Enrico and Shouyue, GSoC represents more than just a summer project, it’s a chance to gain hands-on experience, work with real robots, and give back to the open-source community.
“I believe that GSoC is a great opportunity to consolidate the skills acquired during my university years and to acquire new ones,” Enrico told us. He was drawn to PAL Robotics because of our strong research focus, “This is my dream field for a future job”, he said.
Bruce, who discovered GSoC through a friend, also saw it as a chance to contribute to the same open-source ecosystem. As Bruce said, “PAL Robotics’ expertise in real-world robots, such as service and logistics, makes it an ideal chance to learn and collaborate”.
Their Projects: Building Tools to Learn, Design, and Evolve
Enrico’s project, Payload Visualization Metrics, focuses on improving the prototyping process for robotic platforms. By creating intuitive payload analysis tools, he aims to support early-stage mechanical design choices and make robotics more approachable for newcomers in the field of mechanical engineering, as he explains the objective is “to gain an initial understanding of the resources necessary for a new project.”
Meanwhile, Shouyue will develop a Brax Training Viewer, a system to visualize reinforcement learning policies in real time using MuJoCo and web-based interfaces. The aim is to make policy training not only faster to debug but easier to grasp for learners and researchers.
The tool allows developers and students to watch training unfold through interactive interfaces, making complex behavior easier to understand, debug, and improve. As he explains, “This accelerates the development cycle, and helps in education, where learners can directly observe how policies evolve during training.”
Looking Ahead: Ambitions Beyond the Summer
Enrico told us that his dream project is to build humanoid robots from scratch and integrate an AI agent into them. He discusses that “there are many demos about humanoid robots, but there is still a lot of work to do”. He would like to contribute to robots being inside homes or working spaces.
Shouyue talked about the importance of reliable robots in medical environments. Making them accessible and accurate could support surgical procedures on sensitive parts of the body, as he argues, “it will benefit both human and veterinary medicine.”
Mentoring the Next Generation of Robotics Developers
At PAL Robotics, we are proud to participate in programs like Google Summer of Code, which foster hands-on learning, open collaboration, and real-world impact. We’re excited to support contributors like Enrico and Shouyue Hu, whose projects not only strengthen the open-source ecosystem but also point toward a more accessible and intuitive future in robotics.
We’re excited to follow their progress this summer!
