LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new facility dedicated to robotics research has opened on the University of Louisville campus.
The Louisville Automation and Robotics Research Institute, also known as LARRI, will allow students and staff at the facility to study robots to help find advancements in manufacturing, health care and logistics challenges. LARRI is the only center of its kind in Kentucky.
“In a state with so many innovative manufacturing businesses and in a city that is a leader in health care innovation, LARRI is a vitally important collaborative and research resource,” UofL President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi said. “And for our students, LARRI provides an opportunity to learn and practice with the emerging technologies that will allow them be leaders in engineering innovation.”
LARRI will also feature research projects that will use interactive robots to help those with autism, a specialized chair to improved function in children with spinal cord injuries and an automated nursing.
“The theme is not robots replacing humans. It is humans and robots working together,” Dan Popa, director of LARRI and professor of electrical and computer engineering in UofL’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering, said. “Humans do certain things; robots do other things. ARNA, the nursing assistant robot, will not replace nursing staff, but perform helpful basic tasks to alleviate overwork and stress and improve patient care.”
The new space is located inside the J.B. Speed School Innovation Center on Arthur Street.
More than 50 student workers are going to help in the lab.
New robotics research center opens at the University of Louisville
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