Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems awarded a $392,763 Project Grant to The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley (award date: October 1, 2025; completion date: December 31, 2026) under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070). This award supports research into the algorithmic foundations and methodological frameworks for augmenting human physical and cognitive capabilities through collaboration with multi-agent robotic aerial systems, termed "aerial co-workers." The project is organized around two complementary research thrusts: the physical collaboration thrust, which develops solutions for human-quadrotor teams equipped with flying manipulators to transport objects and enhance worker physical capacity while addressing motion legibility and agent positioning complexities; and the cognitive collaboration thrust, which enables multi-agent aerial vehicle-assisted augmented reality (AR) systems to provide operators with contextual environmental information and novel metric-semantic collaborative space mapping to enhance decision-making and task execution.

The research outcomes are intended to produce disruptive technologies applicable to construction, maintenance, inspection, transportation, and search and rescue operations. By enabling safer, faster, and more efficient task execution through human-robot visual interactions and coordinated physical collaboration, this project addresses critical industry needs for enhanced worker efficacy and safety. The work will be conducted at UC Berkeley's campus location in Berkeley, California.