Northeastern’s Institute for Experiential Robotics

To solve problems of global social relevance through the realization of collaborative, adaptive, ethical, and humanitarian robots and robotic technologies

About the Institute

Application Areas:

Applications in Biomedical Sciences
Manufacturing and Automation on the factory floor and in industrial settings
The development of new sensors and materials for robotics. This includes biometric sensors as well as research on the properties of materials
The role of Ethics in Robotics as it relates to the Human Robot Interaction
The use of Robotic technologies in extreme Environment including Space, Polar and Marine.

Area of Interest within Robotics:

Mathematical Foundations
Formal Methods
Manipulation
Sensors Wearables
Computer Vision
Wearable Technologies
Space, Marine, Polar, Ground
Robotic Prosthetics and Exoskeletons
Human Robot Interaction
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
Dynamics / Control
Multirobot systems

Iris Wang, who studies computer engineering and Joel Willick, who studies mechanical engineering, work on CAD renderings for a PARIS robot in the ISEC building on Aug. 24, 2021. The team received a Phase 1 prize at the Department of Energy E-ROBOT. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Experiential Robotics addresses these interdisciplinary research questions to advance the capabilities of autonomous robots to perform everyday tasks in collaboration with humans

Widespread adoption of autonomous robots in a broad range of human environments relies on robust robot performance and robots’ ability to adapt to uncertainties inherent in everyday human experience, safety protocols, human comfort, and social factors.

IER research is organized into five thrusts:

Human-robot teaming
Embodied artificial intelligence
Systems, design, and control
Ethics and policy, economics and global frameworks
Secure and privacy preserving robotics

Interdisciplinary IER teams, in collaboration with our partners, are working on numerous projects with applications from health, sustainability, security, manufacturing and future of work.

John Buczek, who studies electrical engineering, and Noah Ossanna, who studies mechanical engineering, work on drones in the Forsyth building. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

05/10/18 – BOSTON, MA. – Robot hand stock shot for a story on robotics writing stories. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Here at the Institute for Experiential Robotics, we envision the following four elements as our guiding principles.

Measure, Validate, and Improve the Human-Robot Experience
Robots that can Learn from Human Experience
Robots that can Learn from Each Other
Applied and Adopted to Real-World Problems and Human Experience