Dr. Jared Glover Selected as First ARM Institute Fellow

The ARM Institute fellowship program supports the Artificial Intelligence in Metals and Manufacturing (AIM) Higher Defense Industry Consortium.

May 10, 2021 – The ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Institute is proud to announce that Dr. Jared Glover, CEO of CapSen Robotics, has been selected as the robotics institute’s first Fellow. As an ARM Institute Fellow, Dr. Glover will execute a technical project to address key challenges that hinder the adoption of robotics for manufacturers. The ARM Institute fellowship program supports the AIM Higher Consortium, a group led by Catalyst Connection that exists to support small and medium manufacturers who are currently working in the Defense manufacturing supply chain or are actively pursuing opportunities in the DoD space. Funding for the Fellowship program and the AIM Higher Consortium was provided by the Department of Defense through the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC)’s Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program.

Jared Glover is the CEO and co-founder of CapSen Robotics–a company that makes software to give robots more spatial intelligence. Jared received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT in 2014, where he developed and applied new theoretical tools for processing 3D orientation information to applications in computer vision and robot manipulation. Prior to that, he completed his B.S. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, where he led a team developing robotic walkers. He has 20 years of research experience in robotics and computer vision and over 500 paper citations. He is also on the boards of Catalyst Connection, a private non-profit that provides consulting and training services to small manufacturers in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh Robotics Network.

During his ARM Institute fellowship, Dr. Glover will work on his project: Autonomous Robot Workspace Modeling with an Arm-Mounted 3D Camera. This project aims to help small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) adopt robotic technologies by lowering the cost and time of robot integration and making it easier for users to deploy robots in high-mix, low-volume applications and to move the robot around to new work cell locations in a factory.

This project and Dr. Glover’s expertise will support the AIM Higher Consortium’s work to strengthen defense manufacturing capabilities in West Virginia and the Southwestern Pennsylvania region. The AIM Higher Consortium’s mission is to ensure that the United States is unrivaled in military readiness and defense manufacturing capabilities through an industrial production ecosystem that melds advanced metals and materials with Industry 4.0 technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, and additive manufacturing.

“We are proud to work with Dr. Glover on this important work and support the AIM Higher Consortium,” said Matt Fischer, ARM Institute Program Manager, “We are confident that the outputs from our fellowship program and Dr. Glover’s project will strengthen the regional defense supply chain and help small and medium-sized manufacturers more easily adopt robotics.”

“SMMs comprise a significant percentage of the DoD supply chain,” said Dr. Glover. “Yet they often lag behind in the adoption of new technologies such as advanced robotics. This ARM Institute project will make it easier for SMMs to integrate and benefit from recent advances in 3D vision and motion planning software for applications like bin picking, machine tending, packaging, and assembly. I am honored that this project has been selected for the ARM Institute fellowship program.”

The ARM Institute plans to host more ARM Institute Fellows in the future. The next call for ARM Institute Fellows is slated for fall 2021.

The ARM Institute is also involved in three other Defense Manufacturing Communities. The Defense Manufacturing Communities are funded by the Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC). Learn more about the institute’s involvement and how these communities support long-term community investments that strengthen national security innovation and expand the capabilities of the defense industrial ecosystem here.

About the ARM Institute
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute accelerates the development and adoption of robotics technologies that are the foundation of every advanced manufacturing activity today and in the future. The Institute leverages a unique, robust, and diverse ecosystem of partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen the U.S. economy and global competitiveness, and elevate our nation’s security and resilience. Founded in 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA by Carnegie Mellon University and operating as an independent public-private partnership sponsored by the Department of Defense, ARM is part of the DoD Manufacturing USA® network. Learn more at www.arminstitute.org, follow @ARM_Robotics on Twitter or ARM Institute on LinkedIn.

About CapSen Robotics
Industrial robots have been good at doing repetitive motions over and over for a long time. But the vast majority have little to no visual intelligence. This has limited robot adoption, because most factories and warehouses have loads of jumbled bins and shelves, and without that visual intelligence, there’s no way you can use robots on them.

To address this need, we make a software product called CapSen PiC(TM) that combines 3D vision, motion planning and control algorithms to give robots the ability to locate, pick, and manipulate objects from cluttered bins and shelves. This ability is opening up new opportunities for robots in fulfillment, packaging, and assembly. Our software works with any object, any robot, and any 3D camera–it’s truly general purpose. It’s also the fastest software of its kind, which means robots with CapSen PiC(TM) achieve the fastest cycle times on the market and therefore the best ROIs. Learn more here.

About the AIM Higher Consortium
The AIM Higher Consortium is led by Catalyst Connection and funded by the Department of Defense through the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC)’s Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program. The consortium seeks to strengthen the defense supply chain in the Greater Pittsburgh region of Southwest Pennsylvania and West Virginia. AIM Higher exists to support small and medium manufacturers who are currently working in the Defense manufacturing supply chain or are actively pursuing opportunities in the DoD space. Learn more here.