Robotics at EPFL

We’re an interfaculty initiative that connects and promotes EPFL’s advanced robotics and autonomous systems expertise.

What we do

As Labs and Centers engaged in robotics, we aim to drive positive social impact by shaping the next generation of robotics experts and solutions. We do this through leading-edge research, knowledge exchange, innovative experimentation, industry demos, technology transfer, and through excellence in teaching.

Our Labs

At EPFL, we have 11 laboratories dedicated to core robotics research, and another 13 with affiliated expertise in robotics. This total of 24 laboratories places EPFL’s robotics program as the top-ranked in Switzerland and the 6th in the world.

EPFL’s Latest Developments in Robotics

Reverse-engineering the fruit fly brain. Credit: EPFL Neuroengineering Laboratory and FlyWire

Fruit fly brain shows how simple commands turn into complex behaviors

Research

Researchers at EPFL have discovered how networks of neurons in fruit flies transform simple brain signals into coordinated actions. This sheds light on the neural mechanisms underlying complex behaviors for potential application in robotics.

Guillaume Bellegarda, Milad Shafiee and Auke Ijspeert. 2024 EPFL/Jamani Caillet - CC-BY-SA 4.0

Trotting robots reveal emergence of animal gait transitions

Research

A four-legged robot trained with machine learning by EPFL researchers has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking – a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists interested in animal locomotion.

The Soft Materials Lab has developed 3D-printable elastomers that can vary their mechanical properties to an unprecedented degree © Titouan Veuillet

An ink for 3D-printing flexible devices without mechanical joints

Research

EPFL researchers are targeting the next generation of soft actuators and robots with an elastomer-based ink for 3D printing objects with locally changing mechanical properties, eliminating the need for cumbersome mechanical joints.

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Upcoming events

Gas Sensing with Rotary-Wing Nano Aerial Vehicles

05-07-202405-07-2024

With: Chiara ERCOLANI
Place and room: ELA 1
Online: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/68586876788?pwd=DJbTPdJbkbNiGWsYnS3YEhlotyJLGH.1
Category: Thesis defenses

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