Robotics

From stretchable electronics to miniature mobile robots, CMU engineers are collaborating across disciplines to create the next generation of robotics for human interaction. Our researchers are working to develop and improve soft and wearable robotics, legged and aerial robots, medical robotics, micro/nano-robotics, underwater robots, and IoT robots.

Manufacturing Futures Institute

Robotics Innovation Center

Carnegie Mellon University is a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and the new 150,000-square-foot Robotics Innovation Center sited in Hazelwood Green serves as a proving ground for the university’s robotics, automation, and AI breakthroughs. To accelerate research and development and fuel economic growth, industry is welcome to partner with the center, where researchers, entrepreneurs, and students will collaborate and create.

Learn more about the Robotics Innovation Center

Robotics videos

Robotics news

May 5

Robotics

Developing robots that can walk through mud

Aaron Johnson’s Robomechanics Lab and FieldAI are developing a new technology to help robots move efficiently through muddy and deformable terrain.

As drone delivery expands in cities, CMU researchers are exploring a novel idea: drones that “hitchhike” on buses and other transit to extend range, enabling faster, more efficient deliveries.

To go further, these drones take the bus

Mar 2

Robotics

Robotics Innovation Center is open and ready for research and partners

Marked with a visit from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Carnegie Mellon University officially opened the Robotics Innovation Center on February 27.

Feb 17

Artificial Intelligence

Teaching machines to engineer machines

Nakahira received a Young Investigator Award from the Japan Science and Technology Agency for developing a machine that builds autonomous systems.

Dec 5

Advanced Manufacturing

Researching a hot topic

Mechanical engineering undergraduate finds research opportunities that combine his interest in 3D printing and robotics.

Nov 21

Artificial Intelligence

Tactile sensors enable robots to carry unsecured loads

A new quadrupedal system with tactile sensing, LocoTouch, enables robot dogs to transport unsecured cylindrical objects on their backs for more than 60 meters while navigating around cones and over obstacles.

Nov 12

Advanced Manufacturing

Honey, I shrunk the robot

CMU researchers use novel 3D nanofabrication techniques to miniaturize robots, thereby enabling exceptional speed, precision, and the potential for new applications in manufacturing and medicine.

Carnegie Mellon engineers have developed a simulation tool that predicts how sprayed concrete behaves and solidifies, even around rebar. The breakthrough could transform how buildings are constructed, cutting material waste and enabling stronger, more complex structures for tomorrow’s cities.

Simulator boosts strength, design in spray 3D concrete printing

Oct 27

Artificial Intelligence

Hitting the gym: Researchers design controllers for robots made from living muscle

In a lab where biology meets robotics, Carnegie Mellon researchers are tackling a unique challenge: how do you control a robot made of living muscle that grows stronger every time it moves?

Oct 24

Robotics

Sky’s the limit: Taking autonomous flight to new heights

Marcel Bergerman (ECE 1996) and his company Near Earth Autonomy are making un-crewed flight a reality, creating new possibilities in cargo transport and aerial inspection.

Oct 10

Advanced Manufacturing

Skybound construction

Advancements in aerial additive manufacturing from the lab of Amir Barati Farimani could one day enable drones to construct remote infrastructure, maintain cities, and support space exploration.

Sep 26

Health & Biomedicine

Designer biobots made from human lung cells

Researchers are developing microscale robots with customizable movement, aiming to navigate the body for targeted therapies using advanced tissue engineering.

New research from the Department of Mechanical Engineering will make it safer for drones to survey construction sites by eliminating the risk of collision.

The future of drones in construction

Sep 4

Robotics

Dr. Majidi and the amazing superhuman wearables

Superhuman senses aren’t just for superheroes anymore. Carmel Majidi is introducing flexible wearables, inspired by Softbotics, to augment human senses in both the real and virtual world.

Aug 18

Artificial Intelligence

Get to know the robot dog that can clean your house and serve you soda

New machine learning framework bridges the embodiment gap between robots and humans and enables quadrupedal robots to perform versatile movements like pouring soda, organizing shoes, and even cleaning up cat litter.

May 12

Robotics

The world’s smallest, fastest, power-autonomous biped robot

At less than 1.5 inches tall, the latest bipedal robot from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering can navigate smaller spaces than any other two-legged robot in the world.

Watch the Video

Apr 9

Robotics

Engineering beneath the surface

Students build an autonomous underwater vehicle that can perform tasks important to the maritime industry, including exploring, detecting, and manipulating objects and deploying projectiles underwater.

Jan 8

Advanced Manufacturing

Manufacturing Futures Institute empowers U.S. industry

The Manufacturing Futures Institute empowers industry with the science and technology needed to accelerate U.S. manufacturing.