The Georgia Institute of Technology is building a new lab that will allow roboticists from around the country to conduct experiments remotely. Researchers from other universities, as well as middle and high school students, will schedule experiments, upload their own programming code, watch the robots in real-time via streamed video feeds and receive scientific data demonstrating the results.
The “Robotarium” is expected to house up to 100 ground and aerial swarm robots. No other university has a similar facility.
“Building and maintaining a world-class, multi-robot lab is too expensive for a large number of roboticists and budding roboticists. This creates a steep barrier to entry into our field,” said Magnus Egerstedt, Schlumberger Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). “We need to provide more access to more people in order to continue creating robot-assisted technologies. The Robotarium will allow that.”