ROBOTS IN THE REAL WORLD
WORKING WITH HUMANS
Our research teams solve pressing robotics challenges in three overarching areas:
autonomous systems, cyber-physical technologies, and medical robotics.
Many of the robotics systems we develop are able to adapt and evolve based
on the people and situation - the context - they encounter.
Faculty, students, and professional research staff in each of the
Contextual Robotics Institute's three core research areas will be housed in
collaborative research laboratories - collaborations - in Franklin Antonio Hall,
the newest engineering building at UC San Diego.
Enabling robots and vehicles to navigate the world on their own
Connecting computing systems with the outside world
Building robots to support healthcare workers and patients
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Robotic News
Puppy Bots and Bot Tour Guides: Inside a Human-Robot Interaction Class at UC San Diego
August 6, 2026
A robot that dances on command. A robot that behaves like a puppy – sometimes happy, sometimes sad. A robot that guides visitors on one floor of an engineering building. These are some of the projects developed by students in a human-robot interaction class taught this spring by computer science professor Laurel Riek at the University of California San Diego. The class, CSE 190/276B, which is open to both graduate students and undergraduates, gives students an overview of the field. It culminates in a hands-on project where students work in groups to program a robot to interact with people in a setting of their choice. Full Story
Tania Morimoto Recognized with MassRobotics Rising Star in Robotics Medal
November 5, 2025
The 3rd Annual MassRobotics Robotics Medal award, sponsored by Amazon Robotics, is presented to Dr. Maja Matari?, Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, for her pioneering work in the field of socially assistive robots and for making significant advancements to the field of distributed robots and learning in human-robot systems. Dr. Tania Morimoto, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, is awarded the MassRobotics Rising Star in Robotics Medal for her contributions to novel soft and flexible medical robots and human-machine interfaces designed to improve access to high-quality care. Full Story
Seminars
Jun 03, 2024
"Metric-Semantic Mapping and Task Planning for Autonomous Robots"
Monday, June 3rd @ 2pm PDT
Location: Franklin Antonio Hall (FAH) 4202 & Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Nikolay Atanasov
May 20, 2024
Sustainable 'Relationship' with Interactive Robots
Monday, May 20th @ 2pm PDT
Location: Zoom
Speaker: Dr. AJung Moon
May 13, 2024
"Cognitively-Aware Adaptive Automation to Enhance Human Learning"
Monday, May 13th @ 2pm PDT
Location: Franklin Antonio Hall (FAH) 4202 & Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Neera Jain