Robotics

From stretchable electronics to miniature mobile robots, our experts are creating the next generation of robotics for human interaction through collaboration across disciplines.

Robotics

Bioinspired robotics

Natural organisms have amazing abilities that inspire the field of robotics. How should ant-sized robots move and work together with thousands of microsensors? What can we learn from the movements of cats and cockroaches? How can we create robots and biohybrid robotic systems that are as robust and adaptable as animals? Our researchers are investigating these questions and more.

Faculty involved: Sarah Bergbreiter, Aaron Johnson, Victoria Webster-Wood, Fatma Zeynep Temel (courtesy), Matthew Travers (courtesy)

Soft and wearable robotics

From sensitized artificial skin to stretchable electronics, from bio-hybrid robotics to prosthetic devices for robotic-assisted locomotion, our faculty are developing technologies for safe, minimally-restrictive human interaction.

Innovations include liquid-embedded elastomer electronics (LE3) for stretchable sensors and circuits.

Faculty involved: Sarah Bergbreiter, Carmel Majidi, Burak Ozdoganlar, Victoria Webster-Wood, Hartmut Geyer (courtesy), Fatma Zeynep Temel (courtesy), Matthew Travers (courtesy)

Robots that walk, run, jump, creep, roll, and fly

Researchers explore legged robotics to design better controllers for robustly stable, energy efficiency, and fast locomotion, including the ability to travel reliably over unstructured terrain.

They create technologies for inspection of infrastructure, aerial load transportation, agricultural monitoring, autonomous point-to-point flight as well as investigating micro-scale robotics.

Faculty involved: Sarah Bergbreiter, Aaron Johnson, Kenji Shimada, Hartmut Geyer (courtesy), Michael Kaess (courtesy), Sanjiv Singh (courtesy), Matthew Travers (courtesy)

Micro- and nano-robotics

Fabrication and control of magnetic microswimming robots assembled from microbeads and DNA nanostructures... bioinspired bots that walk on water and climb walls with nano-fiber adhesives... robotic devices for microsurgery and microsurgical tools....

These are a few examples of our research in micro- and nano-scale robotics, an area that requires a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to problem solving.

Faculty involved: Sarah Bergbreiter, Burak Ozdoganlar, Rebecca Taylor, Victoria Webster-Wood, Cameron Riviere (courtesy), Fatma Zeynep Temel (courtesy), Matthew Travers (courtesy)

Robots for special tasks

Whether its maneuvering through debris after a hurricane or repairing tankers under water, robots can perform tasks that are difficult and dangerous for humans.

Self-driving cars, the Internet of Things, and factory automation are areas where systems need to coordinate and communicate with other systems, devices, and humans. Precision, efficiency, and safety are critical.

Faculty involved: Amir Barati Farimani, Aaron Johnson, Kenji Shimada, Ding Zhao, Howie Choset (courtesy), Michael Kaess (courtesy), Changliu Liu (courtesy), Fatma Zeynep Temel (courtesy), Matthew Travers (courtesy), Wenzhen Yuan (courtesy)

Medical robotics

Microrobots to navigate capillaries for drug delivery, temporary, non-invasive electronic tattoos for medical monitoring...these are a few examples of how our experts seek to improve human health through research that blends biomedical and mechanical engineering with robotics.

Diverse projects range from minimally-invasive miniature mobile robots, devices to improve mobility through mechanical assistance, computational, 3D imaging and simulation of organs and vessels, and surgical training tools.

Faculty involved: Kenji Shimada, Rebecca Taylor, Victoria Webster-Wood, Howie Choset (courtesy), Cameron Riviere (courtesy), Fatma Zeynep Temel (courtesy), David Wettergreen (courtesy)

Related news

Jan 24

Gwen’s Girls partnership fosters children’s interest in robomechanics Opens in new window

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

Big steps for mini robots Opens in new window

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.

Oct 14

Jon Cagan named head of Mechanical Engineering Opens in new window

Jon Cagan will be the new head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, effective November 1, 2022.

Sep 13

Hydrogels pave way for future of soft robotics Opens in new window

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.

Research paper Opens in new window

Jul 08

A cooler side to soft robotics Opens in new window

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

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Apr 22

Robots that can learn to safely navigate warehouses Opens in new window

Advances in chips, sensors, and AI algorithms are enabling robots to continuously learn how to plan routes, avoid obstructions, and operate safely in large dynamic warehouse environments.

Mar 25

Students’ ingenuity automates scientific research Opens in new window

In an effort to modernize scientific research, CMU students used only commercial parts and the cardboard boxes they came in to build a modular robot able to autonomously conduct experiments.

Aug 10

Tuning synthetic collagen threads for biohybrid robots Opens in new window

Researchers in Victoria Webster-Wood’s Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group are using techniques from tissue engineering to refine tendon-like collagen threads for a new generation of robots.

Research paper Opens in new window

See More Stories

Jul 08

Innovative ink for stretchable circuits

A collaboration with CMU-Portugal introduces a unique printable ink that allowed, for the first time, digital printing of multi-layer stretchable circuits, e-skins, and adhesive medical patches for electrophysiological monitoring.

Jul 06

Rocket girl Opens in new window

Alumna Maggie Scholtz is co-founder and vice president of engineering at First Mode, a Seattle-based engineering firm focused on tackling challenging problems on Earth and throughout the solar system.

Jul 01

Bringing students into the next industrial revolution Opens in new window

Students taking a new course combine rapidly expanding technologies to create innovative solutions for real societal problems.

Jun 24

Biomechanics for teens

National Biomechanics Day is a worldwide celebration that strives to bring the complex world of biomechanics to high school students through hands-on activities, demonstrations, and Q&A sessions with real-world professionals.

Apr 16

Tailing new ideas Opens in new window

Aaron Johnson’s Robomechanics Lab is looking to nature for robotic tail designs that make orientation tasks easier for moving robots.

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Apr 09

Virtually awarded

MechE graduate students earned accolades at the department’s annual research symposium poster sessions. This year's events were virtual through Gather Town, an interactive, video-chat world.

Feb 10

Under the sea Opens in new window

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon’s Soft Machines Lab has created a soft robot inspired by the quick and agile brittle star, the first mobile and untethered underwater crawling robot.

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Research paper Opens in new window

Dec 01

Making mechanical skin Opens in new window

These 3D printed circuits are self-healing, re-writable, and energy-harvesting, thanks to liquid metal.

Research paper Opens in new window

Research paper Opens in new window

Aug 27

Sea slugs to provide clues in understanding the brain Opens in new window

As the co-principal investigator on an NSF NeuroNex project, Victoria Webster-Wood will investigate the impact of neuromodulators on muscle actuation and modeling biological motor control in engineering frameworks.

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Jul 20

At home with research

Despite the coronavirus shutdown, researchers and students were creative about continuing their work and joining the fight against COVID-19.

Jul 02

Installing windows with help from robots Opens in new window

Kenji Shimada is working on a collaboration with YKK AP to create high-tech window installation robots.

Jul 01

We have a Wimmer

As a 2020-2021 Wimmer Faculty Fellow, Victoria Webster-Wood plans to design interactive demonstrations and to build virtual labs for the course “Gadgetry: Sensors, Actuators, and Processors.”

Jun 26

Johnson received NSF CAREER Award Opens in new window

Aaron Johnson has been awarded a CAREER award by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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May 22

First real-time physics engine for soft robotics Opens in new window

Collaborators have adapted the sophisticated computer graphics technology used in blockbuster films and video games to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots for the first time.

Research paper Opens in new window

Feb 21

Making tracks in the desert Opens in new window

Catherine Pavlov, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, traveled to the Atacama Desert to conduct experiments she modeled that aim to gain non-grasping functionality from space rovers.

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Oct 07

Almost natural

A step closer to integrated artificial muscle and nervous tissue, researchers develop an intelligent, shape-morphing, and self-healing material for soft robotics and wearable electronics.   

Sep 12

Giving robots a “nose” Opens in new window

A team of CMU researchers are developing soft robots that sense and respond to chemicals.

Related Article Opens in new window

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Jul 26

An elegant solution to the soft sensing challenge Opens in new window

Carmel Majidi’s team has developed a soft magnetic skin with a single sensing element that detects force and contact.

Related Article Opens in new window

Jan 17

Run, robot, run! Opens in new window

Soft robots can mimic a critter’s scurry, thanks to shape memory alloy actuators.

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Jan 02

Using drones in agriculture and irrigation Opens in new window

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Kenji Shimada and his team of researchers are using drone technology to help detect and restore damaged water canals in Japan that are critical for the agricultural economy.

Dec 13

From bioinspired to biohybrid

Victoria Webster-Wood uses organic materials to build robotic devices for future applications in medicine and environmental science.

Nov 29

Merging microsystems and robotics

Sarah Bergbreiter develops ant-sized robots and microsystems in the Department Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

May 21

Circuit, heal thyself! Opens in new window

When punctured or torn, this material’s circuits can autonomously—and instantaneously—heal themselves to remain fully operational.

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Feb 09

Invisible, stretchable circuits

Next-generation technologies for wearable computing, soft bioelectronics, and biologically-inspired robotics will require transparent conductors that are soft, elastic, and highly stretchable. Majidi's team is developing these invisible circuits.

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Robotics Institute

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