The cyber-biophysical research frontier
04/16/15 — Cyber-biophysical systems, our newest research field, integrates sensing, computational and communications networks with human biology.
AI & robotics
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.
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?"
Students show off ‘autonomous vehicles’ at L.A. Drone Expo
12/16/14 — Berkeley Engineering students joined civil engineering professor Raja Sengupta at the first-ever Drone Expo in Los Angeles on Saturday, demonstrating their “unmanned autonomous vehicles” to a crowd of hobbyists and enthusiasts.
Paul Allen gives $5.7M to ‘cutting-edge’ artificial intelligence researchers
12/12/14 GeekWire — EECS professor Maneesh Agrawala, who is researching ways for machines to better "read" diagrams and other visualizations, is one of seven scientists who will share $5.7 million awarded this month by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation as part of the Allen Distinguished Investigator Program.
Meet Amazon’s busiest employee — the Kiva robot
12/02/14 CNET — As consumers buy more from the Internet's largest retailer, it keeps up by outfitting warehouses with robots that work at speeds humans can't. "Robots are essential for meeting that kind of demand,"says Berkeley Engineering robotics professor Ken Goldberg.
The unknown start-up that built Google’s first self-driving car
11/20/14 IEEE Spectrum — The story behind Google's innovative self-driving car and the revolutionary Street View camera technology that preceded begins with 510 Systems, a tiny Berkeley start-up launched by IEOR grad (and later Google engineer) Anthony Levandowski and fellow Berkeley Engineering student Bryon Majusiak.
AI researchers say Elon Musk’s fears ‘not completely crazy’
10/29/14 Computerworld — Commenting on high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk provocative statement that artificial intelligence research is a danger to humanity, EECS professor and robotics researcher Stuart Russell says that "If we don't know how to control AI… it would be like making a hydrogen bomb. They would be much more dangerous than they are useful."
The robot in the cloud
10/27/14 New York Times — In a conversation with the New York Times' Bits blog, Berkeley Engineering professor, roboticist and new media pioneer Ken Goldberg discusses what he thinks will be one of the great technology breakthroughs of our age: the fusing of robotics and cloud computing.
New research center aims to develop second generation of surgical robots
10/24/14 New York Times — With funding from the National Science Foundation and two private donors, Berkeley Engineering scientists will establish a research center intended to help develop medical robots that can perform low-level and repetitive surgical tasks.
Scientists consider repurposing robots for Ebola
10/23/14 New York Times — Robotics scientists, pondering the intriguing possibility of repurposing existing search-and-rescue robots to help contain the Ebola epidemic, are planning a nationwide series of brainstorming meetings, including one Nov. 7 at UC Berkeley.
EECS researcher creates controllable flying insects using TI technology
09/12/14 Texas Instruments — EECS associate professor Michel Maharbiz spends his days studying the "beautiful systems" of the insect world, and applying that knowledge to building the tiniest of flying objects.
Brainy, yes, but hardly handy
09/02/14 New York Times — Robots won't be able to take on many human roles until they acquire a delicate sense of touch, and that "takes time, and it's more complicated,” says Ken Goldberg, a roboticist and IEOR professor at Berkeley Engineering. “Humans are really good at this, and they have millions of years of evolution.”
Engineering sisters and their bargain bots
08/27/14 California magazine — Melissa and Lavanya (B.S.'15 ME) Jawaharlal created their affordable Pi-Bots and founded STEM Center USA to engage kids - especially girls - who otherwise might never discover their aptitude for science, technology, engineering and math.
The 10 best universities for robotics in the U.S.
07/18/14 Business Insider — In a roundup of university robotics options from around the country, UC Berkeley lands at the top of the list, described as "an incredibly robust college for robotics that will likely meet your interests no matter what they are."
Big to tiny robots on risky ground: You go first
06/13/14 Phys.org — Researchers at Berkeley Engineering's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab and ETH Zurich have suggested an approach for protecting expensive components in big robots when on difficult terrain: Send in little, inexpensively made robots ahead of them as scouts.
So, where are my robot servants?
05/29/14 IEEE Spectrum — Four years after Berkeley engineers' video of a towel-folding robot went viral, IEEE Spectrum ponders what it will take to develop robots that can become true helpers and companions in people's homes. Berkeley roboticist Ken Goldberg says he doubts that ever-smarter machines will replace human contact, “but people aren't always available.”
Science Goes to the Movies: ‘Transcendence’
05/12/14 National Public Radio — In a conversation with NPR's Science Friday, EECS professor Stuart Russell explains what it would take to “upload” a mind to the Internet, and what is really worrisome about strong artificial intelligence.
Art imitates academia
05/01/14 — EECS professors Jose Carmena and Michel Maharbiz served as technical consultants to Transcendence film director Wally Pfister and answered questions about the film at a campus screening.