A large, inter-institutional collaboration led by Northwestern University has received $26 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a new Engineering Research Center (ERC) dedicated to revolutionary research into the ability of robots to augment the human workforce.
The NSF grant will fund the new center for five years, with the option to renew for another $26 million for five more years. It is the first ERC led by Northwestern. Lead partners include Carnegie Mellon University, Florida A&M, and Texas A&M, with additional faculty support from Syracuse University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The new ERC, called Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity (HAND), will develop dexterous robotic hands that can assist humans in manufacturing, care, handling valuable or hazardous materials, and more. The center’s goal is to develop versatile and easily integrated technological tools and create robots that have intelligent and versatile grasping, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.
“This new award from NSF is a historic milestone that builds on Northwestern’s recognized expertise in robotics and human-machine systems,” said Eric Perreault, Northwestern’s vice president for research. “The HAND proposal is bold and visionary. It will have a lasting, positive impact on manufacturing, food processing, healthcare, and many other fields that rely on skilled manipulation. Ed Colgate, Kevin Lynch, and their extraordinary colleagues across Northwestern have built a world-class team of industrial and academic partners to ensure that this cutting-edge research produces practical results. I look forward to witnessing the transformative impact it will bring.”
“This new award from NSF is a historic milestone that builds on Northwestern’s recognized expertise in robotics and human-machine systems.” — Eric Perreault, Vice President for Research
J. Edward Colgate, an expert in robotics and haptics, the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University, will direct the center. Kevin Lynch, a professor of mechanical engineering at McCormick University and director of the Center for Robotics and Biosystems at Northwestern University, will serve as the center’s principal investigator. Other Northwestern University collaborators include Brenna Argall, Jian Cao, Matthew Elwin, Elizabeth Gerber, Todd Murphey and Ryan Truby of McCormick University, and Lois Trautvetter of the School of Education and Social Policy.
“Northwestern has long strived to be a national leader in areas of the greatest societal and economic importance,” said Chris Schuh, dean of the McCormick School of Engineering. “The HAND ERC does just that by providing a broad innovation ecosystem united in the goal and mission of making robotic dexterity a reality. I am grateful for Ed’s outstanding leadership of this initiative and am excited about the advances in robotics that will result from this work.”
Although robots already play an important role in manufacturing and can improve the quality of workers’ work and increase their wages, their full potential is still limited, according to Colgate. Developing robotic hands that are as versatile and dexterous as human hands will allow robots to augment human capabilities and increase industry competitiveness.
“Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have created an incredible opportunity to make robotic manipulators accessible to small American manufacturers, people with motor disabilities, and many others who could benefit,” said Colgate. “A big challenge, however, is what we put on the end of the robotic arm. Today’s two-jaw grippers are far too limited. HAND’s fundamental research will lead to robots with dexterous and versatile hands, manual skills, and intuitive interfaces that anyone can learn to use.”
But dexterity is not the only goal of the new center. Researchers also want to ensure that new robotic hands are inexpensive, easy to use without specialist knowledge, robust, durable and mass-producible. The center will see robotics and technology researchers collaborate across disciplines and involve experts in education, policy, accessibility and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The interdisciplinary team will help develop and prepare a diverse workforce for an entirely new field of research focused on dexterous robots, and foster a culture that promotes inclusivity and ensures equitable access to new technologies. Potential outcomes include increased labor productivity, improved employment opportunities, reshoring of manufacturing, reduced supply chain vulnerability, improved food safety, improved quality of life, and democratization of the benefits of robotics.
Since its establishment in 1985, the ERC program has supported convergent research, education and technology transfer at U.S. universities. Each ERC brings together members from academia, industry and government to develop breakthrough engineering systems together with engineering graduates who are innovative and prepared for leadership positions in the global economy.
“NSF’s Engineering Research Centers ask big questions to catalyze solutions with far-reaching impact,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “NSF’s Engineering Research Centers are powerhouses of discovery and innovation where America’s great engineering minds tackle our toughest challenges. By collaborating with industry and training the workforce of the future, the ERCs are creating an innovation ecosystem that can accelerate engineering innovation and deliver tremendous economic and societal benefits to the nation.”
