Rice University recently
became an academic player in a $250 million robotics manufacturing
institute.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
awarded an $80 million contract to American Robotics Inc., a
non-profit consortium run by Carnegie Mellon University. The
contract, along with $173 million in matching funds from academic and
non-profit organizations, companies and local governments, will fund
the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing (ARM) Innovation Hub in
Pittsburgh.
The DoD’s goal with ARM is to combine the disparate elements of
current robot technology manufacturing into one cohesive unit. Over
the next decade, ARM will strive to boost worker productivity by 30
percent, create a half-million manufacturing jobs, and promote
robotics for use in small and medium enterprises, as well as
in aerospace, automotive, electronics and textiles.
The Rice component of ARM will be led by computer science and
bioengineering Prof. Lydia Kavraki.
“We will participate as a core university member,” Kavraki
said. “One of the main areas where we will lend expertise is in
robot motion planning, which cuts across all the main themes of the
proposal, including collaborative robotics and rapid deployment of
flexible robotic manufacturing.
Kavraki said Rice also will benefit by collaborating with experts
in robotics who need Rice’s strength in motion planning,
verification and model checking, artificial intelligence and formal
methods.
“This is also an opportunity for us to contribute to the mission
of the institute, to provide leadership in advanced manufacturing and
empower American workers and small companies,” she said. “The ARM
institute will place significant effort in workforce training for the
benefit of society.”
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