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好色先生TV鈥檚 new Robotics Innovation Center (RIC) provides faculty members, students and industry partners with a world-leading collaborative ecosystem for research and development in robotics, automation and artificial intelligence.聽

, dean and University Professor of Robotics in the聽, said the discoveries that come out of the facility will continue CMU鈥檚聽long legacy of transformative impact(opens in new window).

鈥淭he Robotics Innovation Center offers Carnegie Mellon researchers new opportunities to develop and test robotics, automation and physical AI in the real world,鈥� he said. 鈥淪cientists from across the university will tackle challenges ranging from agriculture and manufacturing to search and rescue and exploration. A new generation of world-changing research will happen inside the RIC.鈥�

The spaces inside the new 150,000-square-foot facility will allow for faculty and students to work side-by-side to pursue those opportunities, said聽, the Dr. William D. and Nancy W. Strecker Dean of the聽.

鈥淭he Robotics Innovation Center will build upon the convergence of our remarkable expertise in robotics to spark bold ideas and drive breakthrough research with meaningful economic impact in the Pittsburgh region and far beyond,鈥� she said. 鈥淏y bringing together engineers and scientists from industry and academia, the Center will foster powerful collaborations that advance transformative technologies and improve lives around the world.鈥�

From Steel City to Roboburgh

The new facility reinforces the cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary culture at Carnegie Mellon that allows ideas to manifest into solutions, said聽, George Westinghouse Professor of electrical and computer engineering in CMU鈥檚 College of Engineering.

鈥淲e work seamlessly across departments and colleges, and that cooperation is how you solve problems,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e come up with brilliant ideas and visionary thoughts, but then we take it to reality and, based on those scientific and mathematical foundations, we build systems that work.鈥�

Years ago, Rajkumar was the first researcher at聽Hazelwood Green, testing autonomous vehicles. Now, the RIC will be full of faculty and students in spaces alongside him on the second floor. Meanwhile, his team鈥檚 vehicles will be stored on the first floor, designed with enough space in the outdoor running room to test the vehicles and doors on either end to allow cars to drive through, if necessary.

As a CMU student in the 1980s, he remembers the end of the steelmaking era in Pittsburgh, particularly on the site where the RIC now stands. He said he recognizes how he will now be a part of the ecosystem that ushers in the changing identity of the region that influences national technological innovation.

鈥淲e as an institution need to build upon the expertise that we have on campus and bring that to the new RIC opening up with lots of people engaging in all kinds of robotics activities,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his building represents the ongoing renaissance from being a steel city to a high tech hub. For robotics, Carnegie Mellon is the place. This is a new chapter in the book I would title, 鈥楻oboburgh.鈥欌��

Rajkumar and his team continue to refine the software that may one day allow everyday passenger vehicles聽to serve as virtual chauffeurs or robotaxis(opens in new window), thanks to research from Carnegie Mellon.

鈥淲e are becoming the complete spectrum of robotics, and the RIC is a way to showcase what we are capable of doing at 好色先生TV,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he RIC will end up being a stimulus for many more such entrepreneurial activities to happen, and we will continue to build upon our reputation, expertise and experience to become the global robotics hub.鈥�

Tackling a range of challenges

In an inaugural test session at the RIC鈥檚 75,000-gallon water tank, members of the聽 student group worked to further develop their autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) called聽.

The team, which takes part in the annual RoboSub competition sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, is comprised primarily of undergraduate engineering and robotics students. With an interest in autonomy and hands-on creativity, they develop practical skills in software engineering, algorithms development, AI, CAD, machining, printed circuit board design and more.

At one corner, group members carefully dropped Osprey into the 10-foot deep water tank. Tending to the wire carrying data from the sub to the team鈥檚 laptops, the students watched as the aluminum vehicle shot vertically downward deeper into the water, rocked back and forth, and even did barrel-roll spins, making more progress during their first session than they had anticipated.

鈥淥h, we鈥檝e got movement!鈥� said lead engineer Cole Herber, a senior studying mechanical engineering and robotics, when he saw the robot鈥檚 thrusters react in the water.

Herber said the new tank, which is more than three times the size of the one they previously used, will ultimately enable the team to practice and improve 鈥� leading to better contributions to the field.

鈥淎 lot of robotics is about being scrappy, solving problems in interesting ways, and the RIC鈥檚 space is designed to allow for that,鈥� he said.

In addition to underwater applications, researchers will be testing robots in the air and on land thanks to the newly opened facility at Hazelwood Green.

Another student group working in lunar robotics plans to test their systems at the RIC. The Moon Miners, Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 first team in the聽, will collect data on motion, sensing, excavation and relocation in a test arena filled with powder to mimic the moon鈥檚 surface.

More time underwater means better testing

Michael Kaess, associate professor in the聽 at the聽, said the RIC will improve his ability to test autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for 3D mapping to locate and survey underwater surfaces.

鈥淚 saw it in the planning phases and now looking at it, it's awesome,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 did not imagine how much potential this would have in the end.鈥�

The robots Kaess is developing can greatly reduce human divers' exposure to dangerous conditions, especially in water with low visibility or extreme cold temperatures and depths.

The AUVs are like drones that hover in water instead of air鈥攈olding steady even in moving currents, seeing through turbidity to autonomously build engineering-grade 3D digital twins that give operators instant awareness of asset condition and the data needed for predictive maintenance.

鈥淲e do experiments in the tank before we go out in the field and really test these things at a big scale, so the more space we have for that testing, the more we can do in-house,鈥� Kaess said.

In addition to its larger size, the new tank鈥檚 durable concrete walls will better mimic structures like the bridge pile, absorbing the acoustics used for mapping instead of reflecting it as metal does or leaking when a robot hits the wall.

As with the TartanAUV team, Kaess said increased safety and convenient accessibility at the new water tank, including an automated cleaning system, will allow for more testing to facilitate better discoveries.

He believes the RIC鈥檚 presence in Pittsburgh will spur new opportunities for marine robotics, especially with the region鈥檚 three major rivers, such that the new facility could attract more researchers to Carnegie Mellon.

鈥淲e have 10% of the nation's locks in the area and there's important waterways where lots of material is being transported through the rivers here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t's a good confluence of possibilities in Pittsburgh.鈥�