Michigan Robotics News | Michigan Robotics

Rendering of a soft microrobot with onboard depth camera, soft actuators, and anchor feet for climbing plant stems.

Soft microrobots to rescue plants from pests receive $1M award

February 25, 2026

The USDA awarded Michigan researchers $1M to develop soft microrobots that climb plant stems to detect pests, led by Xiaonan Huang and Dmitry Berenson.

3D printed concrete art on display during the 2019 Innovation in Concrete Symposium organized by the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Civil and Environmental Engineering department.

Using AI to improve 3D printing concrete

February 20, 2026

Professor Yulun Tian is developing an AI-enabled digital twin to monitor and correct robotic 3D concrete printing in real time, backed by a Bold Challenges Initiative award.

The robot has four legs with backward-facing knees. Each leg has three actuators, controlling hip ab/adduction, hip flexion/extension, and knee flexion/extension. Exposed wires link up to the motors. T.R.O.T is emblazoned on the case around the belly of the robot.

Open-source, modular robot for understanding evolution

February 11, 2026

A cost-effective, customizable quadruped could help researchers discover the particular advantages related to the length and segmentation of animal limbs.

Close up of advanced prosthetic hand with a green block grasped between the thumb and index finger, positioning the block at the top of a stack.

Cindy Chestek honored with award for miniature engineering

February 6, 2026

Professor Cindy Chestek was recognized for her research advancing brain-machine interfaces and nerve-machine interfaces.

Leia Stirling recognized by U-M Industrial & Operations Engineering

February 4, 2026

The College of Engineering named Professor Leia Stirling as the IOE Department Faculty Award recipient for her outstanding contributions through research, teaching and service.

upcoming event

March 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM

Robotics Pathways and Careers Speaker Series - Winter 2026

upcoming event

Join us on Thursday, March 19th from 5pm-7pm in FRB 1050 for our Advising Super Session. Come learn more about oiur new concentration, program updates, and policy changes.

March 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Undergraduate Advising Super Session

Food, prizes, face time with robotics faculty

upcoming event

March 26, 2026 at 4:30 PM

Robotics Pathways and Careers Speaker Series - Winter 2026

Jason Ma - Dyna Robotics

upcoming event

April 9, 2026 at 4:30 PM

Robotics Pathways and Careers Speaker Series - Winter 2026

Kellen Schroeter - Pattern Labs

Jason Corso sits in the chair representing the professorship, with Robotics Department chair Dawn Tilbury and Dean Karen Thole behind.

artificial intelligence

Jason Corso named Toyota Professor of Artificial Intelligence

January 30, 2026

Jason Corso is recognized for his contributions to computer vision, multimodal learning, and AI for societal impact with this professorship.

A track and field athlete jumps with the assistance of an ankle exoskeleton.

rehabilitation robotics

U-M, ASICS to launch groundbreaking sport innovation initiative

December 19, 2025

The University of Michigan and ASICS will establish the $25M ASICS x Michigan Sport Innovation Center, a pioneering research effort aimed at advancing human performance and sport science.

A retreat participant assembles the front page of a newspaper in the future.

human-robot interaction

How a Design Retreat plots the future for Robotics

December 18, 2025

Robotics experts across fields came together in NewLab Detroit to envision the future of robotic design in society at the first Design Retreat for Human-Robot Interaction.

Chad Brouze at the LeRobot Worldwide Hackathon

robotics community

How a robotics hackathon can get you building

December 17, 2025

Robotics undergraduate Chad Brouze participated in the Hugging Face LeRobot Worldwide Hackathon, where his team built a voice-controlled robot arm to assist auto mechanics.

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