engineering

National Robotics Engineering Center

National Robotics Engineering Center is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand National Robotics Engineering Center rather than just read about it. In short: The National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) is an operating unit within the Robotics Institute (RI) of Carnegie Mellon University. NREC works closely with government and industry clients to apply robotic technologies to real-world processes and products, including unmanned vehicle and platform design, autonomy, sensing and image processing, machine learning, manipulation, and human–robot interaction.

Key takeaways

National Robotics Engineering Center belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect National Robotics Engineering Center to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of National Robotics Engineering Center from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) is an operating unit within the Robotics Institute (RI) of Carnegie Mellon University. NREC works closely with government and industry clients to apply robotic technologies to real-world processes and products, including unmanned vehicle and platform design, autonomy, sensing and image processing, machine learning, manipulation, and human–robot interaction. NREC is led by Dr. Herman Herman, who has served as director since 2015.

NREC research objectives and approach NREC applies robotics technologies to build functional prototype systems from concept to commercialization. A typical NREC project includes a rapid proof-of-concept demonstration followed by an in-depth development and testing phase that produces a robust prototype with intellectual property for licensing and commercialization. Throughout this process, NREC applies best practices for software development, system integration, and field testing. Sponsors and partners include industrial companies, technology startups, and federal agencies such as DARPA, the Department of Transportation, NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. NREC's research model is based on

Creative design and engineering on all levels and across all disciplines Rapid prototyping using in-house fabrication capabilities Collaboration with sponsors to commercialize technology

NREC history National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC) at Carnegie Mellon was established in 1994 with help from a $2.5 million grant from NASA. In 1994, scientists at the Carnegie Mellon Field Robotics Center realized that the mobile robotics field was mature enough for commercial application in agriculture, construction, mining, utilities, and other markets. Consequently, the National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC) was chartered to develop and transition robotic technology to industry and federal agencies. Original funding for the center included $2.5 million in seed funding from NASA. In 1996, the organization moved to its current facility in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood and was renamed the National Robotics Engineering Center. The NREC is housed in a renovated, 100,000-square-foot foundry building on a reclaimed industrial brownfield site. The NREC provided technical support to RedZone's development of Pioneer, an autonomous mapping and reconnaissance robot developed in 1997 to explore, map, and assess the Chernobyl Sarcophagus. In February 2019, the NREC hosted the activation of the U.S. Army AI Task Force (A-AI TF).

NREC timeline

Project case studies

DARPA robotics challenge CHIMP is a human-sized robot that, when standing, is 5-foot-2-inches tall and weighs about 400 pounds. Tartan Rescue Team engineers designed CHIMP to work in dangerous, degraded environments that were built for people, not robots. CHIMP operates semi-autonomously and can plan and carry out high-level instructions given by its operator. Its near-human form, strength, precision, and dexterity enable it to perform complex, human-level tasks. CHIMP is not a dynamically balanced walking robot. Instead, it is designed to move on stable, tank-like treads incorporated into its four limbs. When it needs to operate power tools, turn valves, or otherwise use its arms, CHIMP can stand and roll on its leg treads. The robot’s long front arms (almost 5 feet) give it an ape-like appearance. CHIMP ranked third in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials in December 2013. Scoring 18 out of a possible 32 points during the two-day trials, the team demonstrated the system's ability to perform such tasks as removing debris, opening doors, cutting a hole in a wall, and closing a series of valves. The system was selected as one of nine eligible for DARPA funding to prepare for the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals in 2015.

Urban challenge Carnegie Mellon University's Tartan Racing team and General Motors built an autonomous SUV that won first place in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. The Urban Challenge race was held on November 3, 2007, at the Victorville training facility in California. Eleven teams competed against each other to finish a 60-mile city course in less than six hours. Their vehicles had to execute simulated missions in a mock urban area while obeying traffic laws, safely merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding other vehicles – all without human intervention.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with National Robotics Engineering Center

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what National Robotics Engineering Center claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to National Robotics Engineering Center before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about National Robotics Engineering Center ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of National Robotics Engineering Center

In research: National Robotics Engineering Center appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses National Robotics Engineering Center in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: National Robotics Engineering Center is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Carnegie Mellon University, Computer science institutes in the United States, Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for National Robotics Engineering Center outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “National Robotics Engineering Center” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study National Robotics Engineering Center in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what National Robotics Engineering Center means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain National Robotics Engineering Center out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is National Robotics Engineering Center in simple terms?

Why does National Robotics Engineering Center matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study National Robotics Engineering Center?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on National Robotics Engineering Center.