The National Science Foundation Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation awarded Iowa State University of Science and Technology $312,413 on January 1, 2027, to conduct fundamental research on safety and security in human-robot interactions under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041).
The award funds research to understand and defend against adversarial physical interactions between humans and robots, addressing the gap in current human-robot interaction safety research, which typically assumes human cooperation and models attackers as abstract algorithms or external disturbances rather than cognitively capable humans who observe, identify weaknesses, and adapt attack strategies in response to robot behavior. The research will develop cognitive models of adversarial human decision-making, methods for identifying realistic robot vulnerabilities, and control strategies enabling robots to resist and recover from disruptive actions. The work draws on multiple disciplines—human factors, cognitive science, robotics, artificial intelligence, control theory, and cybersecurity—and is intended to inform safety standards and testing methods for mobile robots deployed in manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, defense, and public environments. The research includes graduate and undergraduate education, mentored research experiences, and K–12 outreach activities.
Performance takes place in Ames, Iowa, with a period of performance from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2029.