Robotics

From stretchable electronics to miniature mobile robots, engineers are creating the next generation of robotics for human interaction by collaborating across disciplines. In the College of Engineering, our work with robotics includes soft and wearable robotics, legged and aerial robots, medical robotics, micro/nano-robotics, underwater robots, and IoT robots.

Learn more about our research by watching videos from our robotics playlist.

Sep 22

Robotics

Tricky tangles: Robots learn to navigate vine-like vegetation

CMU researchers develop technology that enables four-legged robots to walk through vine-like vegetation.

Watch the Video

Aug 25

Robotics

Student works on tiny bio robots

Lameck Beni, an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, conducted research on small biodegradable robots that have important medical applications.

Carnegie Mellon Researchers have taken inspiration from geckos to create a material that adheres to wet and dry surfaces, even on an incline.

So tricky, a robot can do it

Aug 9

Advanced Manufacturing

Virtual reality partners become real world neighbors

In July, the YKK AP Technologies Lab opened at Mill 19. Their focus on the development of a virtual factory is well aligned with the digital twin work underway at the Manufacturing Futures Institute.

Aug 4

Artificial Intelligence

Training robotic arms with a hands-off approach

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University recently trained a robotic arm with human movements generated by artificial intelligence.

Jul 31

Cybersecurity

2023 Dean’s Early Career Fellows announced

Xi (Charlie) Ren, Victoria Webster-Wood, and Ding Zhao have received the honor for their contributions to their respective fields.

Jun 14

Energy & Environment

Now printing: seaweed-based, biodegradable actuators

We are one step closer to naturally compostable robots now that researchers at Carnegie Mellon can print actuators using a bio-ink made from seaweed.

Apr 21

Robotics

Innovating the trading card industry

Alumni entrepreneurs take innovation in the trading card industry to the next level.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have made grasshopping robots possible by uncovering that latches can mediate energy transfer between robotic jumpers and the environment that they are jumping from.

Grasshopping robots made possible with new, improved latch control

Apr 5

Energy & Environment

Multi-university team building actuators for next gen bio-bots

Multi-university team, led by Mechanical Engineering’s Vickie Webster-Wood, is building actuators for next generation sustainable bio-bots.

Mar 9

Robotics

Engineering breakthrough in softbotics

Introducing the first soft material that can maintain a high enough electrical conductivity to support power hungry devices.

Watch the Video

Jan 24

Robotics

Gwen’s Girls partnership fosters children’s interest in robomechanics

A student-driven partnership between Aaron Johnson’s RoboMechanics lab and Gwen’s Girls has introduced nearly 100 grade school girls to engineering design and robotics.

Oct 28

Robotics

Big steps for mini robots

Aaron Johnson’s Robomechanics Lab tested spherical foot designs to find the best fit so their biped robot with 15-cm legs could walk steadily.

Area high school students visit Mill 19 on Manufacturing Day to learn about advanced manufacturing career opportunities.

Manufacturing Day 2022

Sep 30

Artificial Intelligence

Playing nice: self-driving and human-driven cars sharing the road

Akin to when Model Ts traveled alongside horses and buggies, autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles will someday share the road. How to best manage the rise of AVs is the topic of a new Carnegie Mellon policy brief.

Sep 13

Advanced Manufacturing

Hydrogels pave way for future of soft robotics

Wenhuan Sun, Victoria Webster-Wood, and Adam Feinberg have created an open-source, commercially available fiber extruder to benefit future research with hydrogels and soft robotics.

Jul 26

Robotics

Open-source software gives a leg up to robot research

Aaron Johnson’s Robomechanics Lab has developed an open-source software that enables more agile movement in legged robots.

Watch the Video

Jul 19

Energy & Environment

CMU team designs the airports of tomorrow

An interdisciplinary team from Carnegie Mellon University won NASA’s Blue Skies: Airports of Tomorrow competition with their project focused on sustainability and connected autonomy, earning them internships with NASA this upcoming year.

Jul 8

Advanced Manufacturing

A cooler side to soft robotics

Researchers combined liquid crystal elastomers with a thermoelectric device to develop a stretchable transducer for soft robotics.

Explore Other Research Topics

Centers & Institutes

Robomechanics Lab

The Robomechanics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University is working to take robots out of the lab and factory and into challenging real world environments, such as rocky hills and cluttered houses. We are interested in the mechanics of how a robot interacts with that environment to produce a useful behavior.

College of Engineering research centers and institutes