A reminder that white papers for a mid-cycle update to the Robotics Roadmap are due January 9, 2023. Through support from the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), the US National Robotics Roadmap was first created thirteen years ago by a group of 120 people from industry and academia. It has since been used by government agencies, universities and companies as a reference and call to action from the robotics community. The first roadmap was published in 2009, then revised in 2013, 2016, and 2020. Our objective is to develop a short mid-cycle update, identifying gaps that are not being addressed in current research, in funding opportunities, at companies, and in the government, which need to be addressed […]

Through support from the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), the US National Robotics Roadmap was first created thirteen years ago by a group of 120 people from industry and academia. It has since been used by government agencies, universities and companies as a reference and call to action from the robotics community. The first roadmap was published in 2009, then revised in 2013, 2016, and 2020.  Our objective is to develop a short mid-cycle update, identifying gaps that are not being addressed in current research, in funding opportunities, at companies, and in the government, which need to be addressed sooner than the next full roadmap update. To meet this objective, we […]

CIFellow, Alexis E. Block began her CIFellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles in September 2021. Block is mentored by Veronica J. Santos, Director of the UCLA Biomechatronics Laboratory, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the school’s Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Faculty Affairs. Prior to beginning her CIFellowship, she received her Dr. sc. from ETH Zurich where she was a part of a joint program called the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. Block recently won the Otto Hahn Medal from Germany’s Max Planck Society for her dissertation work in human-robot interaction and the development of the “HuggieBot” which you can read about here. […]

Dr. Ayanna Howard, Dean of Engineering at The Ohio State University and Monte Ahuja Endowed Dean’s Chair will speak on “Socially Interactive Robots for Equitable Healthcare Outcomes” as a part of the NSF Distinguished Lecture Series. The event, to be held May 4th at 11 AM Eastern, will focus on how robots (particularly healthcare robots) and artificial intelligence can be positively integrated into everyday life and tasks. Research and development of helper robots exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to grow as people realize positive potential and impact these technologies can have on the healthcare field. Abstract Dr. Howard’s lecture will provide insights into how robots and artificial intelligence […]

As further advancements in Artificial Intelligence are made, automated processes and robotics are becoming a ubiquitous entity in the workforce. As a result, there is a growing concern among the public that robots will replace humans and cause a massive job shortage. The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) organized the “Robotics: Empowering not Replacing People” scientific session at the 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in February to address this concern in the public perception. The panel moderated by CCC Council Member, Maria Gini (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) and featuring Henrik Christensen (University of California, San Diego), Michelle Johnson (University of Pennsylvania) and Julie Shah […]

Chad Jenkins, CCC Council Member, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Associate Director of the Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan will be featured as a part of the National Science Foundation’s Distinguished Lecture Series on March 3rd from 11am-12:30pm EDT.  Jenkins earned his B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics at Alma College (1996), M.S. in Computer Science at Georgia Tech (1998), and Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Southern California (2003). He previously served on the faculty of Brown University in Computer Science (2004-15). His research addresses problems in interactive robotics and human-robot interaction, primarily focused on mobile manipulation, robot perception, and robot learning from […]