The Robotics Institute

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute


Current Projects [Past Projects]

		3D Visualization for EOD Robots NREC developed a plug-and-play camera and range finder module that gives range information and assists operators of EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) robots during manipulation.

		Agent Based Design Novel agent-based approach for the design of modular robot manipulators

		Amaranth Real-Time System for Adaptive Optimization of End-to-End Quality of Service

		Assisted Mining NREC applied robotic sensors to the development of semi-automated continuous mining machines and other underground mining equipment.

		Autonomous Haulage NREC and Caterpillar are jointly developing the Autonomous Haulage System (AHS), a commercial system for automating large off-highway trucks.

		Autonomous Loading The Autonomous Loading System (ALS) completely automates the task of loading excavated material onto dump trucks.

		Autonomous Platform Demonstrator The Autonomous Platform Demonstrator (APD) will develop, integrate and test next-generation unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) technologies.

		Autonomy & Control NREC is implementing an end-to-end control architecture for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to reduce integration risk in the US Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.

		BORG Framework for the development of distributed, secure, reliable, robust and scalable systems

		Belt Inspection NREC designed, built and tested a high-speed "machine vision" system for monitoring the condition of conveyor belts such as those used in underground coal mines.

		Black Knight NREC developed sensing, teleoperation and autonomy packages for BAE Systems' Black Knight, a prototype unmanned ground combat vehicle (UGCV).

		CARGO UGV NREC is teaming with Oshkosh Defense to develop autonomous unmanned ground vehicle technologies for logistics tactical wheeled vehicles used by the US Marine Corps.

		CARGO UGV OCU The CARGO UGV operator control unit (OCU) seamlessly controls one or more CARGO UGVs traveling in convoy formation.

		Caisson Construction 3D Modeling System NREC developed a 3D imaging system for underwater excavation and placement of caissons that Kajima Corporation used to support the foundation for the Nagasaki Bay Bridge.

		Collaborative Agents Cooperative robotics

		Composable Simulation Software environment which facilitates creating simulations of mechatronic systems

		Container Handling NREC developed autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic systems for moving containerized plants to and from the field.

		Crusher NREC designed and developed the Crusher vehicle to support the UPI program's rigorous field experimentation schedule.

		Dexterous Haptic Interface for Interaction with Remote/Virtual Environments Convey finger touch and force information to a human operator

		Distributed Design System - CODES Providing people, tools, and information for integrated robotics design

		Dragon Runner NREC collaborated with Automatika, Inc. (AI) to develop Dragon Runner, an ultra-rugged, portable, lightweight reconnaissance robot for use by the U.S. Marine Corps in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) for urban reconnaissance and sentry missions.

		Driver Awareness The Driver Awareness and Change Detection (DACD) system lets soldiers view their vehicle’s surroundings from any perspective.

		EOD Robot Operator Assist NREC demonstrated an add-on situational awareness and autonomy package for EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) robots.

		Enhanced Teleop NREC’s miniaturized SACR (Situational Awareness Through Colorized Ranging) system fuses video and range data from a small panoramic camera ring and scanning LADAR sensor to provide photo-realistic 3D video and panoramic video images of an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) robot’s surroundings.

		Enhanced Teleoperation NREC developed a real-time 3D video system to improve situation awareness in teleoperation and indirect driving.

		GPS-Free Positioning NREC is developing MINT (Micro-Inertial Navigation Technology), a wearable navigation and localization aid.

		Golf Course Mowing NREC collaborated with the Toro Company to develop a prototype autonomous mower that can be used in the maintenance of a golf course, sports field or commercial landscape.

		Gyrover A Single-Wheel, Gyroscopically stabilized Robot

		Hopping Robots NREC is researching and developing all-terrain hopping robots for space, search and rescue, and defense applications.

		Hybrid Safety System (HSS) The Hybid Safety System (HSS) enables humans and industrial robots to work together safely.

		Infantry Support NREC designed, developed, field tested and successfully demonstrated a high-mobility tactical unmanned ground vehicle (TUGV) for the United States Marine Corps.

		Intelligent Assembly Modelling and Simulation Facilitating assemblability checking in a virtual, simulated environment

		LNG Pipe Vision A pipe-crawling robot visually inspects pipes in liquid natural gas (LNG) plants for corrosion.

		Laser Coating Removal NREC and Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) are designing an environmentally friendly system to remove coatings from aircraft.

		Learning Robots DARPA needed to supply a standard, mobile robot platform to research teams performing on the Learning Applied to Ground Robots (LAGR) program.

		Liquid Natural Gas Pipe Vision A pipe-crawling robot visually inspects pipes in liquid natural gas (LNG) plants for corrosion.

		Manipulator Coordination NREC implemented an autonomous manipulator for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robots that greatly simplifies manipulator use and coordinates the movements of the manipulator and its platform.

		Material Transport NREC developed AMTS, an innovative system for accurately guiding robotic material transport vehicles in industrial settings.

		Medical Image Registration NREC designed and implemented a medical image registration system to accurately estimate a patient’s position for therapy.

		Millibots Heterogeneous group of small autonomous robots with modular payloads and sensing platforms

		Minicrusher Mini Crusher is a small, versatile robot inspired by the world-famous Crusher UGV.

		Off-Road Autonomy The UPI program improved the speed, reliability, and autonomy of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) operating in extreme off-road terrain.

		Orchard Spraying NREC converted a John Deere tractor into an autonomous vehicle for spraying water in orchards.

		Paint Stripping NREC designed, built and tested the centerpiece of a semi-automated paint removal system that is now in everyday use and available for commercial sale by Chariot Robotics, LLC.

		Peat Moss Harvesting NREC developed an add-on perception system for automating peat moss harvesting.

		PerceptOR NREC designed, developed and tested an innovative autonomous perception and navigation system for the DARPA PerceptOR program.

		Pipeline Explorer NREC designed, built and deployed Pipeline Explorer, the first untethered, remotely-controlled robot for inspecting live underground natural gas distribution pipelines.

		Robotic Simulation NREC collaborated with RAND Corporation to incorporate NREC’s field-proven robotic mobility and planning software into RAND’s suite of high-resolution, force-on-force simulators.

		Row Crop Harvesting The NREC row crop harvesting project targeted three levels of automation: “cruise control”, “teach/playback” and full autonomy.

		Safety for UGVs A flexible, behavior-based approach to safety lowers the risk of operating a large, fast-moving UGV.

		SensaBot Inspection Robot NREC is developing an inspection robot for use in oil and gas production plants.

		Specialty Crop Automation The Integrated Automation for Sustainable Specialty Crops Farming project teams the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), the University of Florida, Cornell University and John Deere to bring precision agriculture and autonomous equipment to citrus growers.

		Spinner With development of the Spinner unmanned ground vehicle, an NREC-led team delivered technical breakthroughs in mobility, mission endurance and payload fraction.

		Strawberry Plant Sorter NREC is developing an automated, machine vision-based strawberry plant sorter.

		Sweep Monitoring NREC developed the Sweep Monitoring System (SMS) for training soldiers and demining personnel to use hand-held land mine detectors.

		Teleoperation Booth NREC has developed an immersive teleoperation system that allows operators to remotely drive an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) more effectively over complex terrain.

		Temporal Segmentation of Human Motion Temporal segmentation of human motion

		VANE We are exploring a mix of physics-based and data driven high fidelity sensor modeling techniques. The goal is to develop a system that can provide much more realistic UGV simulation than current techniques. Such simulation will play a crucial role in speeding up the development cycle, and in validating platforms. Sponsored by the US ACE ERDC.

		Vehicle Classifier A vision-based vehicle classifier uses machine learning techniques to identify cars and trucks in video images.

		Vehicle Safeguarding NREC designed, developed and tested a fully autonomous system capable of following pre-taught paths while detecting and avoiding obstacles.

		Vehicle Stability NREC has developed an easy-to-implement solution to an important problem — stability margin estimation as it relates to vehicular rollover and tipover vulnerabilities.

The Robotics Institute

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