DigiKey launches free reinforcement‑learning robotics webinar with Shawn Hymel

DigiKey is hosting a free 90‑minute virtual workshop on 13 August 2026 at 10 a.m. CDT, led by engineering educator Shawn Hymel. The session will demonstrate how to train a self‑balancing robot in simulation using reinforcement learning (RL) and then deploy the trained policy onto physical hardware. Participants will import a 3D model of the M5Stack Bala‑C balance bot into the MuJoCo physics simulator, train a neural‑network policy with a multi‑phase Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) curriculum, and flash the resulting model onto an ESP32 microcontroller via Arduino.

David Sandys, senior director of technical enablement at DigiKey, said, “Reinforcement learning has quickly become an exciting tool across a wide range of modern applications.” Hymel added that the workshop aims to lower the barrier for developers wanting to build AI‑powered robots. The webinar is part of a six‑part YouTube tutorial series that walks viewers through the full simulation‑to‑real workflow.