We seek to understand the relationship between the robot’s morphology and behavior, and use that understanding to create robots designed from the task up.
How do we describe a robot so that its form can be systematically connected to its function?
How do we turn a robot design into a physical system we can learn from?
How does a robot’s embodiment shape the way it interacts with the world?
Why does a robot work, and can we explain what makes it capable?
Why are robots built the way they are? At the FORGE Lab, we study how a robot's shape, structure, materials, and movement determine what it can do. We build robots to test our ideas, learn from how they interact with the real world, and uncover principles that connect a robot’s design to its abilities. Our long-term goal is to make robot design less dependent on trial and error—so that one day, we can start with a task and systematically determine what kind of robot to build to accomplish it.
Curiosity-driven problem solvers who want to know how a body shapes what it can do.