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.

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Robotic News


Simulated Reality, Real Benefits

Simulated Reality, Real Benefits

August 19, 2026

When first-year students at UC San Diego School of Medicine step into the Professional Development Center to do their first simulated patient interactions, they don’t meet a mannequin or a computer program. They meet a person — a simulated patient who is trained to portray everything from new?onset chest pain to a difficult conversation about recurrent cancer. The center is also a frequent collaborator for faculty at Jacobs School of Engineering, including engineers developing humanoid robots and other technologies to streamline surgery and various medical procedures. Full Story


Puppy Bots and Bot Tour Guides: Inside a Human-Robot Interaction Class at UC San Diego

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


Surgeons Use Teleoperated Humanoid Robots to Perform Live Surgery – a World First

Surgeons Use Teleoperated Humanoid Robots to Perform Live Surgery – a World First

July 8, 2026

For the first time, two teleoperated humanoid robots have been used to complete two surgeries during a preclinical trial, researchers report in the July 8 issue of the journal Nature. The work is the result of a collaboration between a team of engineers and a team of surgeons at the University of California San Diego.    Full Story


News Archive

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