AI & robotics

Pieter Abbeel and Michael Jordan join IEOR

08/24/17 — Berkeley Engineering professors Pieter Abbeel and Michael Jordan, both experts in machine learning, have been appointed as joint faculty in IEOR in addition to their primary appointments in EECS (and Statistics for Jordan).

Launching an autonomous glider guided by artificial intelligence in the Nevada desert

Can artificial intelligence fly a plane?

08/17/17 New York Times — IEOR professor and roboticist Ken Goldberg discusses the problems of robots and uncertainty: getting machines to mimic the way humans intuitively plan for their next action and deal with events they've never before experienced.

Ensuring that robots and humans work and play well together

08/17/17 MIT Tech Review — EECS assistant professor Anca Dragan is working to distill complicated or vague human behavior into simple mathematical models that robots can understand. Her visionary work has landed her a spot on MIT Tech Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 list.

Salto-1P, the amazing jumping robot

07/18/17 IEEE Spectrum — Thanks to some mechanical fine-tuning and the clever addition of a pair of thrusters, Salto-1P, the tiny jumping robot from EECS professor Ronald Fearing's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab, is leaping longer, faster and higher than ever. Prepare to be amazed.

Researchers teach computers to be curious

05/25/17 Engadget — When you first played Super Mario Bros, you probably started by exploring, not by racing through the game. Berkeley computer scientists have imparted that same sense of curiosity into their algorithm in a move that could drastically advance the field of artificial intelligence.

Berkeley robot practices picking up awkward and unusual objects.

Meet the most nimble-fingered robot yet

05/25/17 MIT Technology Review — A dexterous multi-fingered robot, developed by IEOR professor Ken Goldberg and his team, practiced by using virtual objects in a simulated world, showing how machine learning and the cloud could revolutionize manual work.

Robots and our automated future

05/09/17 WBUR — In this radio piece, IEOR professor Ken Goldberg participates in a panel discussion on what the future might look like as sensing, automation and robotics become more prevalent.

High jump

05/01/17 — Inspired by the galago's unique ability to store energy in its tendons to leap to great heights, researchers have designed a small robot that can spring off walls and perform multiple vertical jumps.

Boosting robotics in manufacturing

05/01/17 — The Department of Defense announced a $253 million Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation hub that partners with Berkeley Engineering.

Dean’s word: Inventing a better future

05/01/17 — The college is preparing to launch a new initiative, one with an audacious goal: to invent a better, more promising future for generations to come.

The most robot-proof job of them all

04/14/17 Marketplace — EECS assistant Professor Anca Dragan talks with David Brancaccio about how her native Romania gave her a leg up on studying human-robot interactions, and on helping develop those skills for more would-be scientists.

Working on AR that will help us talk to robots

04/05/17 Wareable — Allen Yang, head of the Center for Augmented Cognition, discusses the burgeoning augmented and virtual reality programs at UC Berkeley, including efforts to build a multidisciplinary VR classroom - a sort of 21st century computer lab.

Allen Yang at the Center for Augmented Cognition

Gift from virtual reality pioneer Immerex will create AR/VR lab at Berkeley

03/14/17 — A gift from the entertainment virtual reality company Immerex will outfit a new lab for Berkeley's accelerating work in AR/VR, from training doctors to enhancing artistic performances.

AI needs more humans in it

03/09/17 Medium — EECS assistant professor Anca Dragan writes about the AI4ALL education program she's leading at Berkeley, BAIR Camp, where high school students will explore human-centered artificial intelligence.

Robots unloading float glass on an assembly line.

Berkeley a regional center in new robotics manufacturing consortium

01/25/17 — Berkeley Engineering is a key partner in the new $253 million Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation Hub, launched this month by the Department of Defense to create and deploy next-generation robotic technology.

Forbes profiles AI pioneer Peter Norvig

01/20/17 Forbes — In a profile of artificial intelligence pioneers, Peter Norvig (Ph.D.'86 CS), director of research at Google, outlines his thoughts on human-machine partnerships and the disparate goals of neuroscience and AI research.

Collegial airspace

12/09/16 — A fast-growing student group has taken to the skies, formalized unmanned aerial vehicle flying on campus and are set to launch an intercollegiate drone-racing league.

Wall-jumping robot is most vertically agile ever

12/07/16 — Roboticists have designed a small robot, known as Salto, that can leap into the air and spring off a wall, or perform multiple vertical jumps in a row.

Modular exoskeleton will make more workers bionic

11/17/16 MIT Technology Review — SuitX, a startup founded by mechanical engineering professor Homayoon Kazerooni, has launched a trio of devices - backX, shoulderX and legX - that use robotic technologies to enhance the abilities of able-bodied workers and prevent common workplace injuries.

Drone guidance assisted by augmented reality

Seeing is believing

11/01/16 — Emerging augmented reality and virtual reality technologies are opening up a new frontier of possibilities for researchers at Berkeley's new Center for Augmented Cognition.