Computational Robotics Lab - ETH Zürich

What Computational Robotics Lab - ETH Zürich does

Computational Robotics Lab (CRL) is a research group within the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zürich, led by Prof. Dr. Stelian Coros (PhD UBC 2011, formerly Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute), with Senior Scientist Dr. Bernhard Thomaszewski and a bench of approximately 10 PhD students and 3-4 postdocs and research associates. Founded in 2011 when Coros joined ETH, the lab defines its research agenda as 'Computational Robotics' — the fusion of simulation, algorithms, and data — and develops theoretical foundations for how future robots are designed, how they move, and how they interact with humans.

The lab's technical core spans three interlocking capabilities: (1) differentiable and physics-based simulation for deformable objects, compliant mechanisms, and multi-body systems (e.g., Q3T Prisms, Differentiable Voronoi Diagrams, Differentiable Geodesics at SIGGRAPH 2023-2024); (2) computational design algorithms for robotic systems, mechanisms, and 3D-printable bioinspired structures (3DPBio project); and (3) model-based reinforcement learning for legged locomotion and manipulation (RobotKeyframing, RL+Model-based Control, Geppetto). Research outputs are published in top venues (SIGGRAPH, ACM Transactions on Graphics, ICRA, IROS, RSS, CoRL, NeurIPS, CHI) and accompanied by open-source code releases on GitHub.

CRL is not a commercial entity. Its 'revenue' is grant and sponsorship funding: an ERC Consolidator Grant (Project 3DPBio, 2020-2025, ~€2M), Swiss National Science Foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships from Intel, Microsoft, Disney Research, Hilti, Swiss Post, and BOBST. Customers are effectively the academic research community and corporate R&D partners receiving technology transfer, joint research, and licensing-style access to research outputs. The lab operates from offices at Stampfenbachstrasse 109 and the STD Building in Zürich, Switzerland, and is governed as part of ETH Zürich, a public technical university.

Name

Computational Robotics Lab - ETH Zürich

Legal name

Computational Robotics Lab (CRL)

Website

https://crl.ethz.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Computational Robotics Lab (CRL) is an ETH Zürich research group led by Prof. Stelian Coros that develops theoretical foundations for intelligent robots, fusing simulation, algorithms, and data, and serves the academic research community and corporate R&D partners including Intel, Microsoft, Disney Research, Hilti, and Swiss Post.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Robotics Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

akta.pro primary industry

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) & Digital Robotics (HDAAAIAI)

Keywords

• Computational robotics research
• Motion planning algorithms
• Physics-based simulation
• Robot design algorithms
• Reinforcement learning locomotion

Headquarters

HQ city

Zurich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Sponsorship: The lab is funded through research grants from European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant 2020), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), and corporate sponsorship from technology companies including Intel, Microsoft, Disney Research, and industrial partners.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Computational Robotics Lab (CRL) is an academic research group within the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zürich that develops theoretical foundations for future generations of intelligent robots. It defines Computational Robotics as the fusion of simulation, algorithms, and data, formalizing advanced simulation models to give robots an innate understanding of physics and devising practical algorithms for motion planning, motion control, and computational design problems.

Product overview

Computational Robotics Lab (CRL) at ETH Zurich is a research group within the Department of Computer Science, led by Prof. Dr. Stelian Coros. The lab focuses on developing theoretical foundations for future generations of intelligent robots, defining Computational Robotics as the fusion of simulation, algorithms and data. CRL's research encompasses motion planning, motion control, computational design, and digital twin methodologies for robotics applications. The lab is primarily an academic research institution rather than a product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• Swiss PostmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate research sponsor providing funding support for robotics research with potential applications in logistics and delivery systems.
• HiltimajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate research sponsor providing funding for construction robotics applications.
• Disney ResearchmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate research sponsor with strong collaboration history in robotics, animatronics, and computational design for entertainment applications.
• BOBOSTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate research sponsor providing funding for research activities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MIT CSAIL: MIT CSAIL houses major robotics research groups working on motion planning, manipulation, and robot learning. It is a direct academic peer publishing at the same top venues and competing for similar talent and grants.
• ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL): ASL is a sister robotics lab at ETH Zurich focused on perception, mapping, and autonomous navigation. It is a direct peer given shared institutional setting, overlapping research community, and competition for ETH resources.
• UC Berkeley BAIR: Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) conducts large-scale robotics and machine learning research, with strong overlap in model-based reinforcement learning for legged locomotion and manipulation - core CRL research areas.
• Stanford AI Lab (SAIL): Stanford's AI Lab conducts frontier research in robotics, reinforcement learning, and differentiable simulation. It is a direct peer given overlap in research topics (robot learning, locomotion) and venue placement (RSS, ICRA, NeurIPS).
• Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems: MPI-IS conducts leading research on robotics, simulation, and material design including metamaterials and soft robotics. Direct academic peer publishing in Nature-family venues and competing for ERC and SNF grants in Europe.
• Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute: The CMU Robotics Institute is one of the world's leading academic robotics research groups. It is directly comparable because Prof. Stelian Coros was previously an Assistant Professor there, and both institutions publish extensively at ICRA, RSS, and IROS on motion planning, control, and computational design.

Broad incumbents

• Toyota Research Institute: TRI conducts large-scale robotics R&D focused on manipulation and home assistance robots. Comparable as a well-funded industry research organization publishing in top robotics venues and competing for talent.
• Google DeepMind Robotics: DeepMind's robotics division conducts large-scale robot learning research with significant industry resources. It is a broad incumbent peer publishing at the same academic venues while also deploying production systems.
• NVIDIA Robotics Research: NVIDIA's robotics research lab works on differentiable simulation (e.g., Isaac Sim), locomotion, and manipulation. Direct overlap with CRL's differentiable simulation and reinforcement learning research, with significantly greater compute resources.

Emerging players

• Boston Dynamics AI Institute: The AI Institute (formerly Boston Dynamics' research arm) focuses on legged locomotion, manipulation, and robot learning. Comparable given shared focus on dynamic legged robots and publication in top robotics venues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eth-crl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Computational Robotics Lab - ETH Zürich