AI & robotics

The exoskeletons are coming

07/16/15 MIT Technology Review — Workers could soon strap on a power-assist suit to maneuver heavy objects, as several companies are working toward commercially available exoskeletons, including Ekso Bionics, cofounded by Berkeley mechanical engineering professor Homayoon Kazerooni.

Campers experimenting with a robit they built

Camp gives middle school girls hands-on experience in engineering

07/16/15 — At UC Berkeley's Girls in Engineering summer camps, middle schoolers go from robots to cow legs to edible juice caviar, all in one whirlwind week.

Multicampus ‘People and Robots Initiative’ targets advances, challenges

07/01/15 CITRIS — Cloud Robotics, Deep Learning, Human-Centric Automation, and Bio-Inspired Robotics are among the primary research themes of the new CITRIS initiative that focuses on innovative theory, benchmarks, software, and approaches to address challenges in the interest of society.

To teach the world robotics

06/17/15 — An electrical engineering professor and a graduate researcher designed a massively open online course to teach an intro to hacking electronics course.

Teaching robots to be moral

06/10/15 California magazine — As robots and other machines controlled by artificial intelligence are getting more sophisticated and more widely used, calls have gone out to try to instill morals in their decision-making pathways. But how? Computer science professor Stuart Russell weighs in.

Beyond drone warfare: Prof warns of ‘automated killing machines’

05/28/15 — In an op-ed piece for the science journal Nature, Stuart Russell, an expert in artificial intelligence, outlines the debate over the use of AI weapons systems, and notes widespread agreement on the need for “meaningful human control” over targeting and engagement decisions. “Unfortunately,” he adds, “the meaning of ‘meaningful' is still to be determined."

Robotic coackroach launching a bird-like robot

Robotic cockroaches are perfect tiny aircraft carriers for robotic birds

05/27/15 Gizmodo — Researchers in the Biomimetic Millisystems Lab created a robot system capable of running and flying by combining their VelociRoACH (a ground-based robot modeled after a cockroach) with the H2 Bird ornithopter (a birdlike robot).

New ‘deep learning’ technique enables robot mastery of skills via trial and error

05/22/15 — UC Berkeley researchers have developed algorithms that enable robots to learn motor tasks through trial and error using a process that more closely approximates the way humans learn, marking a major milestone in the field of artificial intelligence.

Robott scientists help BRETT learn new tasks

New approach trains robots to match human dexterity and speed

05/22/15 New York Times — Linking several powerful software techniques, as Berkeley engineers have done with BRETT (Berkeley Robot for the Elimination of Tedious Tasks), makes it possible for a robot to learn tasks rapidly with a relatively little training.

Robots are really bad at folding towels

05/20/15 NPR — Seven years ago, Berkeley researcher Pieter Abbeel set out on a quest: to teach a robot how to fold laundry. This proved to be a remarkably difficult task - and the difficulty of the task illuminates some key things about the limits of machines. See story and hear four-minute podcast.

How smart is today’s artificial intelligence?

05/20/15 PBS News Hour — How far away are we from making intelligent machines that actually have minds of their own? Berkeley researchers Stuart Russell and Pieter Abbeel weigh in on this nine-minute PBS News Hour segment, along with Elon Musk and Google's Ray Kurzweil.

Throw this camera drone in the air and it flies itself

05/15/15 Wired — The Lily is a drone that doesn't need a controller, or a pilot; it just follows you. It's the first product from Lily Robotics, founded by a pair of recent UC Berkeley graduates including CTO Henry Bradlow (B.S.'13 EECS).

Dash Robotics

05/01/15 — These biomimetic, origami-like kits are designed to get kids (of all ages) hooked on building robots.

Super-cute robot bug gets $1.4M to teach kids to code

04/27/15 Venture Beat — Dash Robotics, which began as a research project at Berkeley Engineering and CITRIS, has secured $1.4 million in seed funding to help refine and market its small bio-inspired origami robots that teach kids how to program while they play.

CITRIS launches “People and Robots” initiative

04/23/15 CITRIS — The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society has launched the CITRIS People and Robots Initiative, a multidisciplinary, multi-campus research program that builds on 40 years of robotics research, a network of alumni, and many active labs and projects.

Q&A: Concerns of an Artificial Intelligence pioneer

04/21/15 Quanta magazine — Computer scientist and EECS professor Stuart Russell wants to ensure that our increasingly intelligent machines remain aligned with human values.

The cyber-biophysical research frontier

04/16/15 — Cyber-biophysical systems, our newest research field, integrates sensing, computational and communications networks with human biology.

Tensegrity robots make headlines

03/23/15 BEST Lab — Tensegrity robots have been featured in a host of recent media articles. The spherical cable-and-rod structures are being developed by mechanical engineering professor Alice Agogino's team, working with NASA Ames and their collaborators, for tasks ranging from space exploration to home health care.

Cyborg beetle research allows free-flight study of insects

03/16/15 — Remote-controlled beetles equipped with radio backpacks are showcasing the potential of miniature electronics in biological research led by Berkeley engineers and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

Ken Goldberg at the World Economic Forum

Forget the Singularity, let’s talk Multiplicity

02/26/15 Robohub — EECS and new media professor Ken Goldberg recaps his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he talked about artificial intelligence and took part in a debate on "Will Machines Make Better Decisions Than Humans?"