Robotics

Film still of a small wheeled robot traveling a path between yellow tape.

Even without a brain, metal-eating robots can search for food

SEAS engineers are developing robot-powered technology with energy sources that are harvested in the robot’s environment.

Evan Lerner ・ April 1, 2021

portraits of from top left clockwise Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, Bo Zhen, Marc Miskin, Ziyue Gao, and Bhaswar B. Bhattacharya

Five Penn faculty named 2021 Sloan Research Fellows

The fellowship recognizes extraordinary U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.

Erica K. Brockmeier ・ February 16, 2021

A robot made of blocks of ice on a table.

GRASP Lab’s coolest robot yet

The Lab’s latest GRASP Lab’s latest modular robotic system is a series of units made out of blocks of ice. These robots could be deployed to research in the Antarctic, or even an extraterrestrial planet.

Evan Lerner ・ February 5, 2021

A flying robot flying in a forest in daylight.

Treeswift’s autonomous robots take flight to save forests

From Penn Engineering’s GRASP Lab, Treeswift uses swarms of autonomous, flying robots equipped with LiDAR sensors to monitor, inventory, and map timberland.

From Penn Engineering ・ October 12, 2020

an audience in a lecture hall watching a speaker give a powerpoint presentation

Future collaborators and scientific pioneers at the Women in STEM symposium

Graduate students and faculty across Penn met to share their work and discuss solutions for issues faced by women in STEM.

Erica K. Brockmeier ・ February 13, 2020

View of white garments hanging at the Designs for Different Futures exhibit, with a white shirt on a stand and a futuristic wheelchair and mechanical upright walking device on display.

Designs for what the future can be

The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s “Designs for Different Futures” exhibition includes contributions and installations from several Penn faculty and alumni who seek to answer questions about what the not-so-distant future may look like.

February 10, 2020

a legged robot walks down a mine past a dummy wearing a yellow vest and a red backpack that is hanging from a metal fence nearby

Robots to the rescue

Penn researchers created a fleet of robots to navigate unknown underground environments as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Subterranean Challenge.

Erica K. Brockmeier ・ November 4, 2019

Bots, biases, and binge watching: How AI shapes the modern world

A three-part series and podcast delves into the nuts and bolts of algorithms, legal and ethical questions, and ways artificial intelligence guides decision making.

Brandon Baker, Michele W. Berger, Erica K. Brockmeier, Gwyneth K. Shaw ・ September 19, 2019

The brain in the machine

Insights into how computers learn, the current challenges of artificial intelligence research, and what the future holds for how machines might shape society in the future.

Erica K. Brockmeier ・ September 19, 2019

david saldana behind a table of his modular flying robots in front of a white board of equations and a TV screen

GRASP Lab’s high-flying robots

Postdoctoral researcher David Saldaña is working on algorithms and designs for autonomous airborne robots which can link together, break apart, and work together to complete tasks.

Gina Vitale , Erica K. Brockmeier ・ August 19, 2019

In the News

Technical.ly Philly

For a glimpse into the future, look at aerial robotics

An event about aerial robotics with the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s dean Vijay Kumar is featured.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn's Electric Race Car Team Seeks Fourth Title in Four Years

Eighty undergrads from a variety of departments, including Connor Sendel of the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, are building an electric car with four-wheel drive with hopes of winning two competitions this June.