Last fall saw the start of the Texas Robotics Honors undergraduate degree program, which offers a comprehensive, multidisciplinary robotics education with hands-on research and courses in engineering and computer science to develop tomorrow’s robotics leaders.
In November the program held its annual Robot Parade, showcasing cutting-edge research across autonomous vehicles, medical robotics, assistive devices and more. The parade gives students the opportunity to showcase the robots and to research how the public interacts and operates with them.
“I think it’ll be really interesting to see how as a society we define our relationship to robots,” said Finn Eagen, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering. “Will it become common to see someone in your neighborhood using an assistive device or using some sort of companion robot?”
Despite all the time spent with robots, a major focus of Texas Robotics is the human element, emphasizing human-robot interaction and leveraging industrial applications that can make people’s lives easier.
“As we build systems … that are designed to do specific tasks, we don’t build them in isolation. We build them for people,” said Caleb Horan, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering. “All of the professors and all of the students try to keep people at the center of what they’re doing. Let’s not replace the people. Let’s enhance the people.”
The program is growing, and the parade helps it reach younger audiences, getting them interested in an expanding field early on. As the field of robotics continues to expand, The University of Texas at Austin is at the forefront of training future engineers and collaborating with industry partners to develop innovative research.
