A new Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaptation at The University of Texas at Austin will study secure, effective human–robot collaboration to enable service and assistive robots across homes, hospitals, workplaces, and public spaces, leveraging robotics, AI, and human factors for embodied intelligence and adaptation.

The center will investigate long-term, real-world interactions in settings like homes, hospitals, and assisted-living facilities, focusing on how humans and robots adapt, learn new skills, shed outdated ones, and follow unspoken social rules.

UT Austin will lead a new NSF Science and Technology Center focused on human–robot co-adaptation, exploring how people and assistive robots learn to live and work together beyond laboratory conditions.

The initiative aligns with NSF’s mission to translate foundational science into practical solutions for the public and to build talent and technologies for future innovation.

Each of the three centers will receive $6 million annually for the initial five-year term, with a competitive chance for up to five additional years of support after that first term.

NSF announced a $90 million, five-year investment to establish three new Science and Technology Centers aimed at accelerating discovery, innovation, and workforce development in AI, robotics, and related fields.

The other two centers are TEMPEST at Michigan State University and GENIE at Northwestern University, each pursuing ambitious, high-impact research agendas.

NSF emphasizes training for students and early-career researchers, advancing foundational research, and speeding translation of discoveries into societal and economic benefits.

NVIDIA will provide accelerated computing, simulation, and robotics platforms to train, evaluate, and explore foundation models for human–robot collaboration and adaptation.

The project will be supported by HERO Facility Network sites in real-world environments such as houses, dorms, cafes, a public museum, a rehabilitation hospital, and elder-care residences, with community input guiding deployment and an internal ethics board handling consent and opt-out procedures.

Beyond research, the center plans open-source AI and robotics curricula, expanded undergraduate opportunities, and a CORAL program to engage high school teachers and broaden robotics education across communities.

UT Austin will involve the Texas Advanced Computing Center for simulations, machine learning, data storage, and digital twins to enable virtual testing before real-world deployment.