American Robotics Named DoD Manufacturing Institute
The Department of Defense awarded the 14th Manufacturing USA institute to American Robotics, Inc. last week, which is the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation Hub.
s the eighth DoD-led institute, the ARM Institute joins Manufacturing USA’s network as a collective effort to revitalize American manufacturing and incentivize companies to invest in new technology development in the United States.
“Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the winning consortium contributed $173 million—comprised of state and local governments, industry, universities, community colleges, and non-profit organizations from across the country—to be combined with $80 million in federal funding,” a department spokesperson said.
The substantial cost matching reflects the importance the U.S. robotics community places on this institute and its value to U.S. businesses, academia, and state and local governments.
The federal government has committed over $1 billion, matched by over $2 billion in non-federal investment, across the Manufacturing USA network.
The ARM Institute network has several member institutions located in Connecticut, including United Technologies Research Center, Sikorsky Aircraft, Lockheed Martin Corporation, General Dynamics Electric Boat, FuelCell Energy, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, University of Connecticut, Yale University, Asnuntuck Community College, Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc., Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and CONNSTEP.
“The use of robotics is already present in manufacturing environments, but today’s robots are typically expensive, singularly purposed, challenging to reprogram, and require isolation from humans for safety,” says Manufacturing USA.
“Robotics are increasingly necessary to achieve the level of precision required for defense and other industrial manufacturing needs, but the capital cost and complexity of use often limits small to mid-size manufacturers from utilizing the technology.”
The ARM Institute’s mission is “to create and deploy robotic technology by integrating the diverse collection of industry practices and institutional knowledge across many disciplines to realize the promises of a robust manufacturing innovation ecosystem.”
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