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Andrew Owens receives NSF CAREER Award for research to improve machine perception systems

Prof. Owens’ research will help fully autonomous systems interact with their environments without human supervision.

Aline Eid receives MTRAC Award to commercialize radar vision for autonomous indoor navigation

Prof. Eid will partner with the industry startup Atheraxon to market technology for automated guided vehicles in warehouse environments and beyond.

$1.7M to build everyday exoskeletons to assist with lifting, walking and climbing stairs

The modular exoskeleton system will help workers and the elderly, boosting ankle, knee and/or hip joints by mounting new motors to off-the-shelf orthotics.

The NAE invites Necmiye Ozay to symposium to advance the engineering frontier

Prof. Ozay presented on her research that is relevant to cybersecurity and the future of space exploration.

$1M for open-source first-responder robots

An open-source perception and movement system, to be developed with NSF funding, could enable robots that partner with humans in fires and disaster areas.

Faster path planning for rubble-roving robots

Splitting the path into difficult and easy terrain speeds up path planning for robots that use “hands” to maintain balance on uneven ground.

Michigan startup MemryX, Inc. promises faster, cheaper AI processing

The ECE startup builds neuromorphic computer chips uniquely suitable for AI applications

$7.5M MURI to make dynamic AI smarter and safer

Researchers from four U.S. institutions aim to pull the best from control theory and machine learning to build safer mobile, intelligent systems.

New grant to expand open source control software for an intuitive robotic prosthetic leg

University of Michigan researchers have been awarded an NSF grant to design an open source framework for robotic prosthetic legs that function more naturally and offer a wider range of capabilities.

Space motor helps make robotic prosthetic leg more comfortable and extends battery life

Getting rid of some gears enabled a free-swinging knee, regenerative braking and brought the noise level down from vacuum cleaner to fridge.

Small, precise and affordable gyroscope for navigating without GPS

Accurate gyroscopes are a bottleneck for backup navigation systems in autonomous vehicles.

A World Record for Robotic Deep Freeze Walking

Cassie Blue, the bipedal robot, takes advantage of the 2019 polar vortex to set a record-breaking walk.

U-M researchers provide control software to ensure autonomous vehicles stay in their lane

The team was awarded a Best New Application Paper Award by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society for their work developing reliable control systems for Lane Keeping and Adaptive Cruise Control.

Michigan takes first place at Exoskeleton Competition

The STARX suit helps first-responders bear greater weights and spend less energy.

SLAM-ming good hardware for drone navigation

Researchers built the first visual SLAM processor on a single chip that provides highly accurate, low-power, and real-time results.

Glen Chou receives the NDSEG Fellowship to improve the safety of autonomous systems

PhD student Glen Chou is focused on ensuring that autonomous systems, including cars and robots, never threaten human safety.

Stéphane Lafortune named N. Harris McClamroch Professor of EECS

Lafortune's research in discrete event systems includes multiple problem domains, with applications to computer and software systems.

Necmiye Ozay receives Henry Russel Award for extraordinary accomplishment

Ozay is one of four U-M faculty members selected to receive a Henry Russel Award for 2019. The Award is one of the university’s highest honors for junior faculty members.

Battling drone ships with Anthony Uytingco

Student leads team that programs the future of boats.

The million foot view

Kamal Sarabandi has expanded radar capabilities in applications ranging from low earth orbit to thousands of feet underground.

Getting people moving – Walking exoskeletons could mobilize disabled patients

Prof. Jessy Grizzle has long said that his work in robotics could one day be used to help the disabled. Now he and his group, alongside French company Wandercraft, are working to make that claim a reality in the form of walking exoskeletons.

Latest two-legged walking robot arrives at Michigan

Built to handle falls, and with two extra motors in each leg, the new robot will help U-M roboticists take independent robotic walking to a whole new level.

BigANT tackles the wave field

Prof. Shai Revzen’s lab in ECE has developed an inexpensive technique to rapidly fabricate a variety of useful robots.

UM::Autonomy competes with brand new boat design

The UM::Autonomy team brought their latest autonomous boat, called Flying Sloth, to participate in the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Foundation Roboboat competition.

Building more stable four-legged robots

A biologist turned roboticist takes a closer look at dog gaits to help design better movements for four-legged robots.

How to build a BigANT – Shai Revzen’s critter-inspired robots

How to build fast and cheap robots

CASSIE: A tougher, lighter bipedal robot with eyes

New walking robot based on birds

U-M first in line for new bird-inspired walking robot

Cassie is the first offering from new startup Agility Robotics, and is loosely modeled on the cassowary, a flightless bird similar to an ostrich.

$1.1 million grant to develop robot emergency response capabilities

Office of Naval Research has awarded Dmitry Berenson, an assistant professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, $1.1 million to help advance emergency response capabilities for robots.

Necmiye Ozay receives NASA Early Career Faculty Award for research in cyber-physical systems

Prof. Ozay’s award-winning work will be used in future space missions

MARLO makes initial attempt at the Wave Field

For now, Grizzle and his graduate students are only attempting the easiest routes, between the grassy two- to three-foot moguls, over smaller undulations that he calls “merely very difficult.”

MARLO, the free-standing two-legged robot, conquers terrain with innovative control algorithms

The robot’s feedback control algorithms should be able to help other two-legged robots as well as powered prosthetic legs gain similar capabilities.

Students receive prizes for simulating the best landing of a rocket booster

The goal of the class project was to control the safe landing of a rocket booster after it disengaged from the portion of the rocket that would continue into Space.

Necmiye Ozay receives CAREER award for research in cyber-physical systems

Cyber-physical systems are smart, networked systems with embedded sensors, processors, and actuators that are designed to interact with the physical world.

ECE welcomes new engineering robotics center

The center, to be built on North Campus, will offer state-of-the-art facilities in a 3-story, 100,000 square foot building.

Jessy Grizzle Delivers Distinguished University Professorship Lecture on Bipedal Robots

The lecture covered the different iterations of Prof. Grizzle's world-renowned bipedal creations since he started work on Rabbit in 1999.

2015 EECS Outstanding Achievement Awards

Winners are chosen for their outstanding accomplishments in teaching, research, and service.

Necmiye Ozay awarded DARPA Young Faculty Award for research in cyber and physical systems

Prof. Ozay’s research interests lie at the broad interface of dynamical systems, control, optimization and formal methods with applications in system identification, verification and validation, autonomy and vision.

Two-legged robot walks outside at U-M

MARLO and its counterparts represent the second bipedal robot model in the world with a gait that isn't flat-footed.

Cockroaches and Robots: Reverse engineering the balance systems of animals

These new insights could one day help engineers design steadier robots and improve doctors’ understanding of human gait abnormalities.

Translating animal movement into better robotic design

Revzen believes that his findings can be used to engineer better man-made devices, including prosthetic limbs and complete robots.

Robots Building Better Maps: For robots and other mechanical creatures

Nick’s primary research involves creating algorithms that decipher what the cameras and lasers are detecting to generate a map.

Jessy Grizzle Honored with Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize from IEEE Control Systems Society

This prestigious honor recognizes distinguished contributions to control systems science and engineering.

MABEL the bipedal robot

MABEL, at one time the world’s fasted running bipedal robot, now sits in the biomechanics exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum.

Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, Jessy Grizzle

Distinguished Faculty Achievement Awards honor senior faculty who consistently have demonstrated outstanding achievements in the areas of scholarly research and/or creative endeavors; teaching and mentoring of students and junior faculty; service; and a variety of other activities.

Run, RABBIT, run!

Today, no other biped machine walks faster, is as stable, or varies its walking speed so adroitly.