Technology Advancement Programs

Our technology advancement programs accelerate the use of robots and physical AI to strengthen the US manufacturing sector. With a focus on key industrial sectors such as defense, aerospace, automotive, electronics, and others as defined by our Members, we look for growth sectors that are ripe for rapid adoption of robotics in manufacturing. The vital needs of our members and the industry at-large are discovered through member insight, industry research, and roadmapping.

While our Automation Services benefit single manufacturers, ARM Institute technology advancement programs strengthen US manufacturing as a whole.

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A person wearing an AR headset inspects an Army vehicle

ARM Institute Funded Projects

ARM Institute Project Calls seeks solutions that are beyond the basic research phase and are ready to take the next steps for commercialization. This stage is typically referred to as Technical Readiness Levels (TRL) 4-7. Our members form project teams to respond to our Project Calls, which focus on delivering solutions in priority technical investment areas. We leverage a robust network of members that includes established national brands, innovative start-ups, manufacturers, government entities, and academic institutions. Doing this allows us to:

Accomplish work that develops, scales-up, and commercializes key enabling technologies for manufacturing and the overall supply chain
Build a repository of industrial robotics solutions, applications and information
Strengthen the US Industrial Base

ARM Institute Members then gain access to the outputs of these projects through consortium-developed intellectual property (CDIP).

Explore Our Projects

Technology Advancement Initiatives

In addition to funding projects through ARM Institute Project Calls, the ARM Institute executes on other large-scale technology initiatives that aim to strengthen US manufacturing and re-shore critical industries. These initiatives range from roadmaps and workshops in targeted areas to other resources that are made available to our consortium.

For example, the ARM Institute collaborated with the Department of War to develop a roadmap of work needed to support the use of robotics in the casting and forging industries, hosted workshops exploring challenges limiting the use of automation, convened new collaborators to work on these challenges, and funded robotics projects that directly addressed these areas of need. In 2020, the ARM Institute advanced robotic solutions to navigate the pandemic.

Today, the ARM Institute is working to develop resources that will enable manufacturers to more easily add AI capabilities to their robotics operations. Stay tuned to learn more about this work.

The ARM Institute works with its member consortium to identify and execute on these priorities.

"What truly sets ARM projects apart is their focus on addressing high-impact challenges within a highly collaborative environment. Through these efforts, we have the opportunity to work alongside partners from industry, government, and academia, ensuring that the solutions we develop are practical, validated, and ready for real-world transition. Critically, we are able to test our technologies in operational environments, gather continuous feedback from seasoned end-users, and iterate rapidly to achieve the desired performance."

Dijam Panigrahi Co-Founder & COO at GridRaster

“We have customers today who are seeking this technology [from an ARM Institute funded project] and our job now is to take it to the commercial sector marketplace. So that we might be able to rapidly produce quality and standard products that the marketplace needs. We have an opportunity to help America become self-reliant on our own technology and not import 98% of the products that consumers and our warfighters are using. We have customers today that are waiting for us to finish this project so they can implement it in their manufacturing spaces.”

Frank Henderson CEO, Henderson Sewing

"Thanks to the effective project management and tools provided by the ARM Institute, it was possible to co-develop software and hardware technologies among the project partners and manage project deliverables effectively. Beyond the existing scope, the continuous dialogue maintained by the ARM Institute helps in identifying future problems, strategies, and technology transitions together with the DoD and the large ARM community.”

Yash Shahapurkar Siemens

"With an ARM Institute project, you know what you’re building is valuable to a broad set of customers because the customers are the group deciding to fund the technology, and 3rd party validation and promotion of the results of the funded project are built into a 500 company network of your target customers. This is a huge accelerator for any new technology, and especially for a company like us that is doing something completely different from everyone else in the market."

Matt Brown CEO of ThoughtForge AI

"The ARM Institute projects have been great to work on and differ largely in their TRL level and focus on delivering more mature technologies. I really enjoy the space of taking technologic concepts to more hardened technologies in partnership with end users. The ARM projects have allowed me to work on teams with academics, small business, large industry and government labs and depots to make truly useful technology. This is very rewarding. The final demonstrations really force a focus on delivery of usable technology."

Michael Groeber Ohio State University