Director's Message

The Center for Intelligent Machines and Robotics was founded in the 1970's by Professor Del Tesar to be a leading center for interdisciplinary basic and applied research related to the many aspects of robotics. From 1986 to 2002 Professor Joseph Duffy guided the Center's activities at which time many significant contributions were made in the area of spatial mechanism analysis. As we move forward, the Center continues to strive to be a leader in research and development in the areas of mechanisms, autonomous vehicles, and intelligent machines. Significant accomplishments by both the faculty and graduate students have led the way and created new and fruitful areas of research.

Speaking of graduate students, it is important to acknowledge their important contributions. At present there are four Masters students and eighteen Ph.D. students working in the Center. The future prospects of our graduating students are excellent and it is anticipated that the high demand for our students by industry will continue for many years to come.

In closing, I would like to personally acknowledge the multi-year support provided by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the State of Florida. The support of these agencies has made it possible to educate the many students in the field of autonomous machines.

Carl D. Crane III
Professor, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Director, Center for Intelligent Machines and Robotics

Areas of Expertise

CIMAR is an interdisciplinary research group comprised of faculty from the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering at the University of Florida. CIMAR's specific research strengths are in the areas of:

Mission

The Center for Intelligent Machines and Robotics (CIMAR) has three major goals:

  1. To educate and graduate students studying for Masters and Ph.D. degrees in the cross disciplinary area of intelligent machines which include robotic type devices and autonomous vehicles.
  2. To pursue basic research in all aspects of intelligent machines which includes research into the geometry, statics, kinematics, dynamics, and control of open-loop serial devices, closed-loop machines such as in-parallel devices (hexapods), and the control of autonomous systems.
  3. To pursue applied research, especially in the areas of the production of autonomous vehicles and the remote handling of hazardous materials, in support of the goals and objectives of national and state government agencies.