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Meet the Robots

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The opening celebration on Feb. 27 for the 好色先生TV Robotics Innovation Center(opens in new window) (RIC) features more than a dozen active robotics and physical AI demonstrations showcasing a new generation of robotics innovations. The researchers and entrepreneurs behind these advanced technologies have forged strong connections with industry and government while also creating jobs and economic opportunities across the region.

FieldAI

FieldAI autonomous vehicle

FieldAI builds field-proven embodied AI software 鈥 an 鈥渁utonomy brain鈥 that helps mobile robots operate reliably in the real world. Our Field Foundation Models (FFMs) are embodiment-agnostic, allowing the same core intelligence to scale across various robot types and missions. We enable mapless, GPS-denied autonomy, allowing robots to navigate and make safer decisions in dynamic, unstructured environments without pre-programmed paths. Our technology is built to take robots beyond controlled demos into real-world operations at scale.

Bimanual Lego Assembly with Humanoids

For robots to assist with complex manufacturing tasks, they need the dexterity to manipulate modular components 鈥 like the toy bricks in this demo. As the humanoid robot builds the brick pyramid, it demonstrates dual-arm coordination, perception, grasping and the decision-making skills needed to be adaptive in factories and work alongside humans.

A robot at a table building lego structures.

CMU鈥檚 Space Exploration: Moonranger

A MoonRanger model, side by side with an Iris model.

CMU robotics has looked to the stars for decades. This model is a full-scale replica of , the university鈥檚 next venture into space. Slated for a 2029 launch, the rover will advance our understanding of water on the moon as it autonomously explores near the lunar south pole.

Triage

In remote or austere locations where first responders can鈥檛 immediately reach injured individuals, robots can step in for search and rescue. Team Chiron is developing autonomous aerial and ground robots with advanced AI to locate casualties, check vitals and relay critical data. In disaster zones and on the battlefield, these systems could speed triage, inform decisions and save lives.

One of Team Chiron's walking robots.

Underwater Mapping

A robot sits on the edge of a frozen river in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is no stranger to murky waters, and CMU research enables robots to generate detailed models when visibility fails. In this demo, an underwater robot performs live mapping of a submerged structure using sonar. This technology could improve inspection of bridges, dams and critical infrastructure.

Unobtrusive Intelligence for Everyday Assistance

Robotics can be integrated into everyday objects, turning an ordinary stapler or mug into a proactive agent. In this office scenario, desk objects infer a user鈥檚 goals and subtly reposition themselves to be helpful. Also on display are lightweight wearable braces that use robotic functions to ease rehabilitation. These technologies demonstrate physical AI assisting without disrupting daily life.

Two hands with small braces on them.

Tree of Heaven Mapping

A robot along a riverside.

Tracking invasive species across large regions is time consuming and costly. CMU researchers designed a shoebox-sized mapping payload that can identify trees of heaven in the wild. The team has mapped the invasive species on bike paths along Pittsburgh rivers, including those near the RIC.

Autonomous Vehicles

CMU is considered to be the birthplace of AV technology dating back to 1984. Subsequently, CMU won the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, which triggered the creation of the AV industry that is global and growing significantly. Come see a slice of history with multiple generations of vehicles displayed and demonstrations of some of CMU鈥檚 autonomous vehicle capabilities.

Raj Rajkumar lifts his hands off the wheel in an autonomous vehicle.

Immersive 3D Sports Experience

A person wearing a headset sits in front of a computer watching a game.

Step inside the game. This demo lets fans watch live sports from different vantage points, like sitting courtside, hovering overhead or standing right behind the players. Real-time rendering lets viewers instantly replay highlights from any angle, creating an immersive live stream that brings the energy and atmosphere of the stadium to fans at home.

Robotic Fireblight Detection

Fireblight is a common and potentially devastating disease in apple orchards. This wheeled robot uses a camera-equipped arm to scan trees for signs of the disease. This automated, close-range inspection could help growers identify outbreaks sooner, reduce losses and target treatments more precisely.

A wheeled robot moves alongside a sidewalk examining trees.

Autonomous Drone

An autnomous drone takes flight.

This research involves creating a smart drone that can fly autonomously, without GPS, to avoid obstacles. We hear about drones everyday, but many of these drones lack the ability to avoid obstacles in an internal environment like a tunnel. We accomplish this by giving our drone an eye and a brain. The drone uses a camera to create a three-dimensional map of the environment and determine its location. Our algorithm predicts the movement of objects and effectively avoids collisions.

Robomechanics Lab

A variety of field robots are being developed for environmental monitoring and wilderness search and rescue applications. Common themes that arise in this research include modeling and planning for changing contact conditions, developing systems that are inherently robust to uncertainty and enabling more dynamic robot behaviors. Highlighted is a wheeled quadruped for soil monitoring and unmanned surface vessels for aquatic exploration.

A four-wheeled robot traverses leafy terrain.

Softbotics

A robot underwater resembling a starfish.

This team has developed robotic and computing systems that mimic the rich versatility and robust mechanical properties of natural organisms. These include bio-inspired robots capable of various novel methods of locomotion as well as grippers that mimic the ability of an octopus tentacle or human hand to grasp and manipulate objects. Such efforts also include new classes of wearable electronics and physiological sensing technologies for human-machine interaction and health care monitoring.

Medical Robotics and AI

CMU researchers are using robotics and AI to rethink how to deliver safe, effective, low-cost diagnostics and therapies that conventional medical devices cannot. This demo shows three portable robotic systems that could make advanced care more widely available and empower clinicians to treat patients with innovative methods.

A medical robot