UWF-IHMC awarded $775K ONR grant to support ISR research

A joint University of West Florida and Institute for Human & Machine Cognition team has received a $775,360 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program grant from the Office of Naval Research to expand its capabilities in multi-robot autonomy and human-machine teaming.

The funding will support the acquisition of advanced humanoid and ground robotic platforms, high-performance onboard computing and immersive teleoperation systems, enabling research in dynamic urban operations and hazardous environments. The new equipment will enhance ongoing funded projects while providing hands-on training opportunities for students in UWF's Intelligent Systems and Robotics Ph.D. program. It will also strengthen the region's role in advanced robotics and defense innovation.

"This DURIP award enables us to significantly expand our experimental capabilities at the intersection of autonomy, robotics and human-machine teaming," said Dr. Brent Venable, director of the Intelligent Systems and Robotics doctoral program. "By integrating advanced robotic platforms with immersive teleoperation and onboard intelligence, we are creating a shared research infrastructure that accelerates discovery while giving our Ph.D. students direct experience developing the next generation of autonomous systems for real-world environments."

This marks the fourth DURIP award the UWF-IHMC team has secured from ONR, underscoring the team's sustained commitment to pushing the boundaries of autonomous robotic systems. The project team includes Dr. Robert Griffin and Dr. Matt Johnson, who both hold dual appointments as research scientists with IHMC and UWF through the ISR program, and Dr. Hakki Erhan Sevil, UWF ISR associate professor.

"ONR has been a fantastic supporter of both IHMC's and UWF's research over the years," said Griffin. "This DURIP will allow us to continue to improve, enhance and expand not only our humanoids efforts, but also extend into other areas of applied robotics research. This further advances the ISR program, giving our students more opportunities to grow and learn."

This grant will support the purchase and integration of four key capabilities: (1) precision actuators to enhance an Alex humanoid robot, (2) a rugged Warthog unmanned ground vehicle for complex terrain navigation, (3) powerful NVIDIA Jetson Orin computing modules for onboard intelligence and (4) immersive teleoperation with motion capture systems to bridge human-robot interaction.

In addition to the robotic platforms, the high-performance onboard compute modules and immersive systems will allow research teams to develop, test and refine real-time perception, autonomy and human-supervised control approaches for field-ready systems.

"The new equipment will enable us to advance not only the ONR work being conducted, but it will also strengthen several other efforts, including IHMC's new National Center for Collaborative Autonomy," said Johnson. "It will help foster the science and empower UWF-IHMC ISR students with access to these new capabilities."

A central component of this grant is its integration into UWF's ISR Ph.D. program to offer hands-on opportunities for doctoral candidates and graduate students for experimentation and impactful research outcomes. The equipment will create a shared infrastructure accessible to researchers from both institutions.

"This award allows us to expand experimental autonomy research and validate systems far beyond what was previously possible," said Sevil. "These new resources will move us forward in our ability to explore how robots operate together and with human partners in environments that are too dangerous or unpredictable for people alone."

For more information about UWF's Intelligent Systems and Robotics in collaboration with IHMC, visit uwf.edu/isr.