Cooperative Agreement 70NANB20H110

Ambi Robotics Inc. received a $972,586 Cooperative Agreement award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop advanced artificial intelligence and robotic systems for e-commerce logistics automation. Specifically, the company will create novel training systems for AI-enabled robotic pick-and-pack systems tailored to individual customer needs. Key deliverables include quality control vision modules, automated item pickability assessments, and enhanced AI...

This $548,168 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program aims to develop and translate robotic manipulator technology for enhanced supply chain efficiency and dexterous material handling. The principal investigator's team at Columbia University will build on their previous work in deep reinforcement learning for complex robotic manipulation tasks, focusing on extrinsic manipulation strategies that can enable...

Gridiron Robotics LLC was awarded a $275,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program to develop an automated outbound packing system. The company will advance a bin packing algorithm using constrained, quantum accelerated deep reinforcement learning to minimize void space and maximize parcel utilization when loading shipping containers. Outcome metrics for the 12-month project period ending January 2024 include achieving over 90%...

Dextrous Robotics, Inc. received a $256,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project Grant from the National Science Foundation under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop automated perception capabilities for robotic chopsticks manipulating small and large objects in constrained spaces. The six-month project running from July to December 2021 aims to advance robotic grasping technologies through research on computer vision and tactile sensing that enables dexterous...

This $100,000 National Science Foundation Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships project grant funds the development of an optimized warehouse robot control device by the New Jersey Institute of Technology from June 2022 to May 2023. The proposed technology is a hardware and software-integrated firmware device to optimize order picking preferences for hybrid and fully automated warehouse management. The innovation focuses on reducing waste and improving efficiency or productivity in warehouses...

This three-year, $500,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering program aims to develop strategies for robotic manipulation without prior shape models of objects. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will receive funding to design a state-estimation and task planning system that combines neural network perception with uncertainty modeling. This will enable robots to operate in less restrictive, real-world environments like...

This EAGER (Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) project, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), aims to create a personalized training framework that adapts to each worker's cognitive functions and sensorimotor skills in collaborative robotic manufacturing environments. The $299,953 grant, awarded on September 1, 2024, with a completion date of August 31, 2026, focuses on advancing personalized training strategies for complex...

This $275,000 SBIR Phase I project grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) aims to develop software capabilities to improve automated harvesting of strawberries. The project will implement two key components: A trajectory optimization module for a robot manipulator's camera to maximize information gain and reduce localization uncertainty for strawberries while respecting kinematic and collision...

This $150,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports fundamental research at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to develop new robotic manipulation capabilities for safely and reliably handling fragile objects. The research aims to establish an understanding of the synergy between vision and touch sensing, and to create a control method based on object properties that can optimize robotic manipulation for a variety...

This $6 million project grant from the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration's Economic Adjustment Assistance program will strengthen the robotics and autonomy cluster in Southwestern Pennsylvania through five projects led by Catalyst Connection. The projects include expanding workforce training programs in robotics and artificial intelligence careers to grow the region's existing portfolio. An SME robotics adoption project will support technology adoption by small- and...