University of Michigan Robotics Department

What University of Michigan Robotics Department does

The University of Michigan Robotics Department was established in 2022 as a successor to the prior Robotics Institute, becoming the first dedicated robotics department at a top-ten US engineering school. Headquartered in the Ford Motor Company Robotics Building on the university's North Campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the department offers a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) in Robotics — the first undergraduate robotics major at a top-ten engineering school — alongside Master's (thesis and non-thesis), Ph.D., and Shared U-M Graduate Degrees (SUGS) programs. The department also operates the M-Air advanced robotics testing facility for autonomous air, land, and sea systems. Since launch, more than 150 students have declared the robotics major, the department's staff has grown from approximately six to nearly twenty members, and 13 new faculty hires have been onboarded during the institute-to-department transition under chair Dawn Tilbury. The Mbot educational robot fleet exceeds 300 units deployed across courses.

Research activity is organized across focus areas including design and soft robotics, autonomous vehicles, legged robotics, rehabilitation and wearables, robotic manipulation, motion planning and control, robot perception and computer vision, multi-robot systems, human-robot interaction, robot learning and foundational models, medical robotics, manufacturing robotics, and underwater robotics. Documented outputs include the SPPIRO earthworm-inspired soft in-pipe inspection robot — the first untethered soft robot demonstrated to steer through a T-joint, operating at least five times faster than prior untethered designs — the ARMTD receding-horizon trajectory planner with provable collision-avoidance guarantees, the GPRFormer transformer for planetary rover localization from ground penetrating radar, and NSF CAREER-funded work on adaptive multimodal fusion for underwater perception and on vision-touch integration for dexterous manipulation. Cited performance benchmarks include humanoid navigation planning at 84% success versus 26% baseline, rope-manipulation success improvements of over 40% in simulation and near-doubling on hardware using synthetic data augmentation, and inclusion of the AI4Shipwrecks sonar dataset in the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot. Faculty recognition includes a 2025 ACM Fellowship (Chad Jenkins), an IEEE Fellowship (Necmiye Ozay), multiple NSF CAREER awards, a DARPA Young Faculty Award, and National Academy of Engineering election for the chair.

The department operates a non-commercial, grant-and-tuition-funded academic business model. Funding flows from three streams: University of Michigan state appropriations and tuition; sponsored research grants and contracts from agencies including NSF, DARPA, the Office of Naval Research, and NASA together with industry sponsors (Toyota Research Institute, Amazon, Ford, Google, ASICS); and contributions from industry partners under a multi-tier Industry Engagement Program spanning speaker series, course collaborations, sponsored research, IUCRC membership, and facility support. Constituents include undergraduate and graduate students, federal research sponsors, and a portfolio of corporate partners including Ford, Amazon, Toyota Research Institute, Boston Dynamics, NASA JPL, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, and ASICS, alongside member companies of the NSF-funded Center for Autonomous Air Mobility and Sensing (CAAMS) IUCRC and the Digital Twins in Manufacturing IUCRC. The department does not report commercial revenue; principal outputs are trained graduates, open-source research artifacts and datasets, and academic publications.

Name

University of Michigan Robotics Department

Legal name

Regents of the University of Michigan

Website

https://robotics.umich.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The University of Michigan Robotics Department, founded in 2022, is the first dedicated robotics department at a top-ten US engineering school. It offers undergraduate and graduate robotics programs and conducts research spanning soft robotics, autonomous vehicles, perception, and human-robot interaction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Robotics Research

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Special Industry Machinery, Nec (3559)

akta.pro primary industry

Teacher Training & Curriculum Providers (Robotics/Maker Education) (EDAMADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industrial & Warehouse Robotics (HDAAAIAA), Robotics Learning Platforms (EDAFANAB), AI & Machine Learning for Robotics Programs (EDAMADAK)

Keywords

• Robotics education
• Robotics research
• Autonomous systems
• Human-robot interaction
• Soft robotics

Headquarters

HQ city

Ann Arbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. University Educational Funding: State funding, tuition revenue, and university budget allocations supporting undergraduate and graduate robotics education programs.
2. Sponsored Research and Grants: Funded research projects ranging from exploratory efforts to multi-year joint engagements with government agencies and industry. Sources include NSF, DARPA, Office of Naval Research, NASA, Toyota Research Institute, Amazon, and others.
3. Industry Partnership Contributions: Industry partners fund chairs, research facilities, and centers. Centers, chairs, and facilities engagement allows partners to fund and access research facilities and establish collaborations.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The University of Michigan Robotics Department is an academic department that delivers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in robotics (the first undergraduate robotics major at a top-ten U.S. engineering school, launched in 2022), operates a 300+ Mbot educational robot fleet for hands-on coursework, and conducts sponsored research across autonomous systems, legged and soft robotics, human-robot interaction, medical/rehabilitation robotics, robot learning, and manufacturing robotics. It partners with industry and government through a tiered Industry Engagement Program and produces open-source datasets, code, and publications disseminated globally.

Product overview

The University of Michigan Robotics Department is an academic department offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in robotics, not a commercial product company. Their 'products' are primarily educational platforms, research robotics systems, and student-developed technologies. The core educational offering includes the Mbot educational robot platform used across courses for hands-on learning. Research outputs include specialized robotics systems such as the SPPIRO earthworm-inspired pipeline inspection robot, painting robot arms for human-robot artistic collaboration, and AI systems like GPRFormer for planetary rover localization. The department also supports student teams (M-Fly, MRacing, Michigan Mars Rover, Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicles) and maintains research focus areas in design/soft robotics, autonomous vehicles, rehabilitation robotics, medical robotics, and robot learning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• B.S.E. in Robotics Undergraduate Major Undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in Robotics offered to students, featuring 5 concentrations and hands-on coursework using the Mbot educational robot platform.
• Graduate Robotics Programs (M.S. and Ph.D.) Master's (thesis and non-thesis) and Ph.D. degree programs in robotics, supported by the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, with research across all department focus areas.
• SUGS Shared U-M Graduate Degree Program Accelerated master's degree pathway for University of Michigan undergraduates who wish to continue into graduate studies in robotics.
• SURE Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Summer research program offering undergraduate students hands-on robotics research experience under faculty mentorship.
• Mbot Educational Robot Platform Mobile educational robot platform that serves as the hands-on backbone for multiple robotics courses, with a fleet of over 300 units managed by the department.
• Industry Engagement Program Structured industry partnership program with three engagement tiers offering career fairs, course collaborations, sponsored research, IUCRC membership, chair/facility sponsorship, and talent access for corporate partners.
• Distributed Teaching Collaborative Collaborative teaching program that co-creates and delivers Michigan Robotics courses to students at Minority-Serving Institutions and HBCUs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 150 students declared a robotics major since program's launch in 2022, with first two majors graduating.
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability12 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• University of Colorado BouldercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Partner university in CAAMS IUCRC. U-M collaborates with Colorado Boulder on projects such as constrained trajectory optimization and tracking control for winged VTOL aircraft (Panagou), and optimal fleet management for UAS (Yeo and Li).
• Brigham Young UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Partner university in CAAMS IUCRC. Collaborative projects with BYU include safe and efficient planning/control for winged VTOL aircraft, and architectures for optimal fleet management of unmanned aerial systems.
• Virginia TechcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Partner university in the CAAMS IUCRC, collaborating on autonomous air mobility and sensing research alongside U-M, Colorado Boulder, BYU, Texas A&M, and Penn State.
• Texas A&M UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Partner university in the CAAMS IUCRC, contributing to the NSF-funded autonomous air mobility and sensing research center.
• Penn StatecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Partner university in the CAAMS IUCRC, collaborating on autonomous air mobility and sensing research through the NSF IUCRC program.
• Center for Autonomous Air Mobility and Sensing (CAAMS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022NSF-funded Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) established in 2022. U-M is a contributing member alongside University of Colorado Boulder, Brigham Young University, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, and Penn State. CAAMS conducts cutting-edge research in autonomous air mobility and sensing, working with academia, industry, and government.
• Ford Motor CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFord Motor Company partnered with the department through the naming of the Ford Motor Company Robotics Building on North Campus, serving as the department's headquarters. The partnership includes ongoing industry engagement through career fairs, sponsored research, and student opportunities. Previous speakers from Ford also participate in the Pathways Speaker Series.
• Boston DynamicsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBoston Dynamics leaders have served as speakers in the Robotics Pathways Speaker Series, sharing industry insights with the Michigan Robotics community.
• NASA JPLminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory leaders have participated as speakers in the Robotics Pathways Speaker Series, connecting JPL expertise with Michigan Robotics students and faculty.
• Digital Twins in Manufacturing IUCRCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Science Foundation IUCRC focused on digital twins in manufacturing. Michigan Robotics (led by Dawn Tilbury) is involved in seeking industry collaborators for this center, which addresses national challenges in robotics with benefits to industry.
• Student Teams (M-Fly, MRacing, Michigan Mars Rover, Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicles)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan Robotics supports student robotics teams including M-Fly (aerial systems), MRacing (autonomous vehicles), Michigan Mars Rover, and Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicles. Industry partners can support and mentor these teams as part of the Industry Engagement Program's Initial tier.
• Shirley Ryan AbilityLabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developed the Open Source Leg — an open-source, artificially intelligent prosthetic leg designed by U-M researchers and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. The free-to-copy design aims to improve patient quality of life and accelerate scientific advances in the bionics field.
• NOAA Ocean Exploration ProgrammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Field Robotics Group's expeditions to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary were supported by the NOAA Ocean Exploration Program, enabling sonar data collection for the AI4Shipwrecks dataset.
• McitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerU-M's autonomous vehicle research center, Mcity, supports research on human-autonomy interaction, trust in autonomous vehicles, and pedestrian safety. Supported research on how autonomous vehicles should communicate with drivers and pedestrians.
• ASICSmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerU-M and ASICS launched a groundbreaking sport innovation initiative, combining ASICS's athletic footwear expertise with U-M's robotics research on exoskeletons and wearable robotics.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL): MIT CSAIL houses major robotics research groups and competes with Michigan for faculty, graduate students, and federal grants. Both institutions emphasize AI-robotics convergence, soft robotics, and computer vision research.
• Johns Hopkins Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics (LCSR): JHU LCSR is a strong peer in medical and surgical robotics research with comparable graduate program structure and federal funding mix (NSF, NIH, DARPA).
• Stanford Robotics Lab: Stanford's robotics efforts span the Stanford AI Lab, Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab, and similar groups — directly comparable in research breadth (autonomous vehicles, manipulation, locomotion) and graduate program depth.
• Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute: The most direct peer — CMU's Robotics Institute is the original dedicated robotics institute and the model Michigan's department evolved from. Both offer integrated undergraduate/graduate robotics programs, conduct fundamental robotics research across legged, manipulation, and autonomous systems, and serve as primary talent feeders for industry.
• University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab: Penn's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory is a longstanding multidisciplinary robotics research lab with both graduate education and industry engagement models directly comparable to Michigan's.
• ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab: ETH ASL is the leading European counterpart — comparable in research output across legged robotics, aerial systems, and autonomous navigation, and competes with Michigan for top international graduate students and faculty recognition.
• Georgia Tech Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM): Georgia Tech's IRIM is an interdisciplinary robotics institute with industry partnerships and degree programs across multiple schools — directly comparable to Michigan's structure and federal funding profile.
• UC Berkeley BAIR (Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research): Berkeley AI Research couples robotics with deep learning research and competes for the same federal funding pools. Both institutions emphasize machine learning for robot perception, manipulation, and autonomous systems.
• University of Maryland Robotics Center: Maryland Robotics Center is an interdisciplinary institute with federal agency partnerships (Army Research Lab, Navy) and graduate programs comparable in scale and focus areas to Michigan's department.

Emerging players

• MIT Media Lab (Personal Robots Group): MIT Media Lab's robotics groups overlap with Michigan's human-robot interaction and soft robotics research, but with a more design/human-centered orientation rather than engineering breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UMRobotics
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@MichiganRobotics
• Instagraminstagram.com/umichrobotics
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-of-michigan-robotics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about University of Michigan Robotics Department