Scratch-0: Environment Setup

Objective: Verify your development environment and submit your first pull request to the VLA Foundations repository.

1. Prerequisites

Install the following tools:

• Git: Version control
• Python 3.10+: Primary programming language
• PyTorch 2.0+: Deep learning framework
• Node.js 18+: For building the course website

2. Task: Create Your Contributor Profile

Create a new file at content/contributors/[your-github-handle].mdx with the following structure:

---
name: "Your Full Name"
role: "Student"
semester: "Spring 2026"
github: "your-github-handle"
---

# About Me

Brief introduction about yourself and your research interests.

## Academic Background

- **University**: Your University
- **Major**: Your Major
- **Year**: Your Year

## Research Interests

- Vision-Language-Action models
- Robot learning
- [Your specific interests]

## Contact

- **Email**: your.email@university.edu
- **GitHub**: [@your-handle](https://github.com/your-handle)

3. Environment Verification

Run the following script to verify your PyTorch installation:

import torch
import torch.nn as nn

def verify_setup():
    # 1. Check CUDA
    device = "cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu"
    print(f"Running on: {device}")

    # 2. Test Linear Projection (Modality Bridge Simulation)
    # Projecting a 1024-dim vision token to a 4096-dim language latent
    bridge = nn.Linear(1024, 4096).to(device)
    x = torch.randn(1, 1024).to(device)
    y = bridge(x)

    assert y.shape == (1, 4096), "Projection Shape Mismatch"
    print("Environment Sync: SUCCESS")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    verify_setup()

Expected output:

Running on: cuda  # or "cpu" if no GPU available
Environment Sync: SUCCESS

4. Submission Instructions

Step 1: Create a Branch

git checkout -b student/[your-handle]-init

Example: git checkout -b student/johndoe-init

Step 2: Add Your Profile

git add content/contributors/[your-github-handle].mdx
git commit -m "Add contributor profile: Your Name"

Step 3: Push Your Branch

git push origin student/[your-handle]-init

Step 4: Submit a Pull Request

1. Go to https://github.com/arpg/vla-foundations
2. Click "Pull requests" → "New pull request"
3. Base branch: staging (NOT main)
4. Compare branch: student/[your-handle]-init
5. Title: Scratch-0: Add contributor profile - Your Name
6. Description: "Initial contributor profile for Scratch-0"
7. Click "Create pull request"

Step 5: Wait for CI Checks

Your PR will trigger a GitHub Action that validates:

• MDX syntax is valid
• Frontmatter is properly formatted
• LaTeX rendering works
• Site builds successfully

If the build fails: Check the error logs, fix the issues in your MDX file, and push the changes. The CI will automatically re-run.

Step 6: Instructor Review

Important: Only the instructor can merge your PR. You do not have merge permissions.

Once your PR passes all checks, the instructor will:

1. Review your profile
2. Provide feedback if needed
3. Merge to staging
4. Deploy to production

5. Evaluation

Pass: Your PR is merged into staging, and your profile appears on the Contributors page.

Fail: PR is left open or build is broken past the deadline.

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem: git push fails with permission denied

Solution: Make sure you're pushing to your own branch, not main or staging.

---

Problem: CI build fails with "Invalid frontmatter"

Solution: Check that your MDX file has valid YAML frontmatter between --- delimiters.

---

Problem: PyTorch not found

Solution: Install PyTorch following the official guide.

---

Problem: Can't merge my own PR

Solution: This is expected. Only the instructor can merge PRs. Wait for review.

7. Getting Help

• Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 3-4 PM
• Discussion Forum: Post with [scratch-0] tag
• Email: christoffer.heckman@colorado.edu

8. Deadline

Due: End of Week 1 (Friday 11:59 PM)

Late submissions will incur a 10% penalty per day (max 3 days late).

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Welcome to VLA Foundations! This assignment ensures you're ready for the technical work ahead.