Robotics Institute

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Robotics Institute
TypePrivate nonprofit research institute
Established1979; 46 years ago (1979)
Parent institution
Carnegie Mellon University
Location
Pittsburgh
,
Pennsylvania
,
U.S.

40°26′35.7″N 79°56′44.8″W / 40.443250°N 79.945778°W / 40.443250; -79.945778
CampusUrban
Websiteri.cmu.edu
Map

The Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute (RI) is an academic department within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Robotics Institute is widely acknowledged as being among the world’s top robotics research institutions.[1][2][3] It is noted for its work in computer vision.[4] autonomous vehicles.[5] space exploration.[6][7] disaster relief.[8] and assistive robotics.[9][10]

The Robotics Institute has facilities on Carnegie Mellon’s campus in the Gates and Hillman Centers and Newell-Simon Hall, and in the Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville, and Hazelwood neighborhoods of Pittsburgh.[11]

History

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The Robotics Institute was the first academic department in the world devoted exclusively to robotics. It was founded in 1979 by Carnegie Mellon University professors Raj Reddy and Angel Jordan, with the assistance of a $3 million grant from the Westinghouse Corporation.[12] Reddy served as its founding director from 1979 to 1991.[13]

The Robotics Institute introduced a Ph.D. program in 1988, also the first of its kind. Carnegie Mellon became the first computer science school to offer an undergraduate robotics major when it added that program in 2023. To that point, robotics had mostly been the domain of engineering.[14]

RI is home to three research centers: the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), the Field Robotics Center (FRC), and the Extended Reality Technology Center (XRTC).[15]

National Robotics Engineering Center

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Established in 1994, the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) is an operating unit within the Robotics Institute that works with government and industry clients to apply robotic technologies to real-world processes and products, including unmanned vehicle and platform design, autonomy, sensing and image processing, machine learning, manipulation, and human–robot interaction.

Field Robotics Center

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Established in 1994, the Field Robotics Center researches, develops, and builds mobile robots for use in field environments, such as natural terrain, agricultural settings, subterranean environments, under water and other work sites.[16]

Notable Work

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Autonomous vehicles

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The Robotics Institute has been at the forefront of research on self-driving vehicles since it began working on Navlab in the mid-1980s as part of the DARPA Strategic Computing Initiative. Navlab consisted of a series of vehicles designed for varying purposes, including off-road scouting, automated highway driving, and driver assistance in crowded city environments[17]. In 1995, Navlab 5 autonomously traversed 2,849 miles from Pittsburgh to San Diego on a road trip that researchers Dean Pomerleau and Todd Jochem called “No Hands Across America"[18].

In the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, CMU vehicles Sandstorm and H1ghlander finished in second and third place, respectively. The RI-based Tartan Racing team won the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge with their vehicle, a modified Chevrolet Tahoe called Boss. Boss completed the 55-mile course in just over 4 hours and 20 minutes to win the $2 million top prize[19].

RI faculty and graduate students made up Team Explorer, which competed in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge between 2019 and 2021[20]. Team Explorer won the tunnel circuit event and placed second in the urban circuit before finishing fourth in the final event[21].

Space exploration

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Andy, a four-wheeled, solar-powered lunar rover named for university founders Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, was unveiled in 2014 as part of the competition for the Google Lunar X Prize[22].

In January of 2024, Iris, a shoebox-sized lunar rover designed and built entirely by CMU students, was part of the payload aboard Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander. Carnegie Mellon installed a mission control center on campus for Iris, as well as planned future space missions. A propellant leak prevented the lander from reaching the moon and deploying the rover[23].

Another RI-built lunar rover, MoonRanger, is scheduled to be part of a Moon mission in 2029[24].

Assistive robotics

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HERB (Home Exploring Robot Butler) was an autonomous mobile robot designed and built in the Personal Robotics Lab that was capable of delicately manipulating objects to assist with household tasks[25]. In 2013, a video of HERB separating an Oreo cookie was part of the brand’s “Cookie vs. Creme” campaign[26].

In 2015, RI’s Cognitive Assistance Lab launched NavCog, a smartphone app which used computer vision and a network of Bluetooth beacons to help visually impaired users navigate spaces[27].

RI faculty member Christopher G. Atkeson’s work on soft robotics for human interaction in nursing homes directly inspired the design of Baymax, the health care robot in the 2014 animated Disney movie Big Hero 6[28].

Exploration and disaster relief

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In 1983, a team from RI led by faculty member Red Whittaker sent a four-wheeled robot called Workhorse to Three-Mile Island to assist in the cleanup following the partial nuclear meltdown that occurred there in 1979[29].

Nomad, an autonomous four-wheeled robot built in RI’s Field Robotics Center in the late 1990s, searched for meteorites in Antarctica in 2000. Over the course of 10 days, Nomad studied about 50 indigenous rocks and identified three meteorites in-situ[30].

Zoë, a solar-powered autonomous robot designed to detect microorganisms, trekked 120 miles through Chile’s Atacama desert in 2004, mapping signs of life[31][32].

In 2015, CHIMP, a 5-foot-11-inch humanoid robot designed and built by RI-based team Tartan Rescue, finished third in the DARPA Robotics Challenge[33].

Notable faculty

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Patents

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References

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  1. ^ "Mastering the Robot". The Washington Post. September 16, 2000. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  2. ^ "Uber Would Like to Buy Your Robotics Department". The New York Times. September 11, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  3. ^ "CMU Robotics Institute celebrates 25 years". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 11, 2004. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  4. ^ "Carnegie Mellon names new dean for Robotics Institute". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 11, 2004. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  5. ^ "Roboburgh: Pittsburgh has always been a leader in the robotics revolution". Pittsburgh City Paper. April 27, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  6. ^ "Pittsburgh's first mission control center to land at CMU ahead of 2022 lunar rover launch". WESA. March 29, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  7. ^ "It Started as Winter Break. It Ended With a Doomed Moon Mission". The New York Times. February 9, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  8. ^ "Robots designed to deal with nuclear accidents await duty in Europe while Japan asks: Where are ours?". The Washington Post. March 27, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  9. ^ "Robots Make the Rounds To Ease Hospitals' Costs". The Washington Post. April 3, 2002. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  10. ^ "Tiny robotic "inchworm" may one day help deliver cardiac care therapies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 16, 2004. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  11. ^ "CMU Robotics Institute to take over former Barnes & Noble location in Squirrel Hill". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  12. ^ "CMU Robotics Institute celebrates 25 years". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 11, 2004. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  13. ^ "Carnegie Mellon's Reddy cited for robotics research". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 10, 2006. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  14. ^ "CMU is adding an undergrad robotics degree, expects first graduates by 2026". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 12, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  15. ^ "Research Centers". Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  16. ^ "Research Centers". Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  17. ^ "Overview". NavLab, The Robotics Institute. August 8, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  18. ^ "With self-driving tech was new, a road trip paved the way". Associated Press. August 11, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  19. ^ Spice, Byron (November 4, 2007). "Carnegie Mellon Tartan Racing Wins $2 Million DARPA Urban Challenge". Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  20. ^ "The Pentagon's $82 Million Super Bowl of Robots". The Washington Post. November 10, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  21. ^ "Team Explorer Places Fourth in DARPA SubT Challenge". Carnegie Mellon University. September 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  22. ^ "Carnegie Mellon Unveils Lunar Rover "Andy"". Carnegie Mellon University. November 24, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  23. ^ "It Started as Winter Break. It Ended With a Doomed Moon Mission". The New York Times. February 9, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  24. ^ "NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon". NASA. July 29, 2025. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  25. ^ "Meet Herb, A Robot To One Day Help Around The House". WESA. May 24, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  26. ^ "Knife-wielding robot HERB separates Oreo cookies". CNET. March 12, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  27. ^ "The new app that serves as eyes for the blind". The Washington Post. October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  28. ^ "The Challenge of Big Hero 6: How To Make A Huggable Robot". NPR. November 7, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  29. ^ "After TMI accident in '79, this Carnegie Mellon team pitched a novel idea for cleanup: Use robots. It was just the beginning". State Impact Pennsylvania. March 12, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  30. ^ "Carnegie Mellon's Autonomous Nomad Robot Successfully Finds Meteorites In Antarctica". Space News. February 3, 2000. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  31. ^ "Red and The Robots". Smithsonian Magazine. December 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  32. ^ "Nomad combs no-man's land for meteors". CNN. January 24, 2000. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  33. ^ "Meet the future first responders". The Washington Post. June 8, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
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