Engineering professors to be awarded $1.1 million NSF grant to create multifunctional robots

Roger Quinn, Arthur P. Armington Professor of Engineering, and Hillel Chiel, professor of biology, neurosciences and biomedical engineering, received a National Science Foundation award with an intended amount of nearly $1.1 million (more than $270,000 has been awarded to date). The project, “RI: Medium: Dynamical Coordination and Sequencing of Multifunctionality in Animals and Robots,” seeks to create intelligent control for autonomous robots that would allow them to respond flexibly and adapt to changing environments.

A multifunctional worm-like robot could crawl through pipes of different sizes at any angle, the researchers said. Potential applications for these adaptive robots include inspecting water mains without interrupting water flow or endoscopic diagnosis of the gastrointestinal tract.

For more information on the award and its potential applications, click here.