About Us
Since its founding, the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University continues to be the preeminent collaborative hub for the world’s visionaries in robotics.
Mission
Encompassing the practical and the theoretical, we push the boundaries of collaboration to develop interdisciplinary solutions touching nearly every aspect of human life—making things safer, more efficient and more productive. We educate, mentor and empower the brightest and most ambitious roboticists to anticipate the future, and then to build the robotics we need to take us there.
Founded in
85
in partnership with Westinghouse
Vision
As the pioneers of robotics, our approach to research is rooted in interdisciplinary collaboration and guided by computational thinking, so that we may build premiere real-world solutions that serve the breadth of humanity.
We have
232,131
square feet of facilities
Values
All individuals are welcome. All ideas are significant. All points of view are critical. Our influence is amplified by the people who choose to be here. We cultivate sheer talent and brilliance to produce the robotics leaders the world needs. For decades, we’ve been intrepidly driving the field forward—for the betterment of society and the lives of people everywhere.
There are
1,000 +
current faculty, staff, students, postdocs and visitors
RI History
Over 45 years ago Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute opened its doors with the dream of ushering in a new age of thinking robots. During the ensuing decades, we have experienced many research successes in intelligent manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, space-related robots, medical robotics, nano-machines, computer vision and graphics and anthropomorphic robots.
The possibility of initiating Robotics research at CMU was raised by President Dick Cyert at a meeting attended by Dan Berg (Dean of MCS), Angel Jordan (Dean of CIT), Allen Newell and Raj Reddy in the Fall of 1978. Cyert was told that to reach critical mass we will need 5 to 10 faculty and annual funding of 2 to 5 million dollars. Cyert went with Reddy to the Pentagon leading to a commitment from Admiral Bacchicco of the Office of Naval Research and arranged a meeting with the President of Westinghouse, Tom Murrin. With a 5-year five-million-dollar commitment from Murrin and identification of key engineering faculty by Jordan, the Robotics Institute was launched in October 1979.
Our Story
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Research Timelines
Learn more about the history of space exploration and the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles at the Robotics Institute.