Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Dartmouth College's robotics and AI research program, conducted through its Department of Computer Science and affiliated engineering groups, spans a remarkably diverse range of problem domains — from microscale robotics and underwater autonomy to manipulation, self-reconfiguring systems, and machine learning. The group's most celebrated contribution is its pioneering work on untethered MEMS micro-robotics, with their electrostatic micro-robot — measuring just 60 by 250 micrometers — garnering over 330 citations and standing as a landmark achievement in miniaturized autonomous systems. This work demonstrated that fully untethered locomotion at the microscale was achievable using scratch drive actuators, opening doors for medical, manufacturing, and sensing applications. Beyond the microscale, Dartmouth researchers have made meaningful contributions to underwater robotics, developing novel acoustic localization systems that free underwater vehicles from surface infrastructure dependencies, as well as autonomous construction robots capable of placing cement blocks in free-floating configurations using active ballasting — a first in the field. Their work on deformable object manipulation, particularly tight-tolerance string and rope threading, has attracted substantial attention from the manipulation community, offering practical real-time control strategies that sidestep computationally expensive simulation pipelines. The program also reflects a strong commitment to foundational AI topics, including probabilistic reasoning frameworks, hierarchical reinforcement learning, and deception detection — reflecting an interdisciplinary ethos that bridges robotics with cognitive science and human-robot interaction. More recently, researchers have explored event camera vision and undergraduate data science curriculum integration, signaling a forward-looking commitment to emerging sensing modalities and student training. Prospective students and collaborators will find a collegial, intellectually broad environment where novel hardware meets rigorous algorithmic development.