Insider Brief
- Fujitsu Limited will expand its Pittsburgh robotics and AI work into Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center, deepening a nearly 30-year research relationship with the university.
- The move is tied to the Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center, which focuses on AI systems for real-world environments, including manufacturing, logistics and infrastructure.
- Carnegie Mellon said Fujitsu is the second corporate tenant at the 150,000-square-foot Robotics Innovation Center, joining FieldAI and gaining access to the center’s robotics labs, motion-capture studio, drone cage, water tank and outdoor testing area.
Fujitsu will expand its Pittsburgh robotics and artificial-intelligence work into Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center, deepening a nearly 30-year research relationship between the company and the university. According to Carnegie Mellon, Fujitsu is the latest corporate tenant at the Robotics Innovation Center, the university’s robotics and AI research facility at Hazelwood Green in Pittsburgh.
The move is tied to the recently announced Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center, which brings together researchers in robotics, machine learning, language technologies, human-computer interaction, engineering and philosophy, with a focus on AI systems that can operate safely and effectively in real-world environments.
The university said researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Fujitsu will work on technologies that support automation and intelligent systems in industries including manufacturing, logistics and infrastructure.
“Fujitsu has long been an important collaborator with Carnegie Mellon, enabling our researchers to work alongside their scientists, engineers and technicians to develop physical AI systems designed to tackle real-world challenges,” noted Martial Hebert, dean of CMU’s School of Computer Science. “This close collaboration with industry informs and inspires new research directions to meet critical demand. Having Fujitsu in the RIC will create new opportunities for students, faculty and industry teams to work side by side.”
The Robotics Innovation Center opened earlier this year as a 150,000-square-foot facility for robotics, AI and advanced automation research. The center includes high bay robotics labs, collaboration spaces, a motion-capture studio, drone cage, water tank and outdoor testing area.
Fujitsu’s presence at the center will place the company’s researchers and engineers alongside university robotics researchers and give them access to the RIC’s testing and collaboration infrastructure. The center will focus on action generation and learning, spatial perception, multirobot coordination and human-robot interaction.
“CMU has long been a global leader in robotics and AI research, and the RIC provides a unique environment where researchers, engineers and students can collaborate using world-class facilities to advance physical AI technologies,” added Vivek Mahajan, corporate executive officer, corporate vice president and chief technical officer in charge of the system platform at Fujitsu Limited. “We believe this partnership will accelerate innovation and help bring reliable physical AI systems into real-world applications that benefit society.”
Fujitsu becomes the second corporate tenant at the Robotics Innovation Center, according to Carnegie Mellon. The company joins robotics startup FieldAI, which was announced earlier this year as the RIC’s first industry tenant.
Carnegie Mellon also announced Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro earlier announced that the commonwealth had provided the university with a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to develop a Physical AI Accelerator inside the RIC. The Robotics Innovation Center was made possible through a lead gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and is part of the research and manufacturing ecosystem at Hazelwood Green.
Image credit: Carnegie Mellon University
