机器人基础研究计划（Foundational Research in Robotics，FRR）是美NSF在机器人领域最主要的资助计划，由计算机与信息科学及工程学部（Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering，CISE）和工程学部（Directorate for Engineering，ENG）于2020年8月1日联合启动，旨在支持兼具高级计算能力（computational capability）与物理复杂性（physical complexity）的机器人研究。就该计划而言，机器人是指一个拥有具身智能的物理系统，具备信息处理、感知、规划，以及在工作环境中移动或实质性地改变环境的能力。其中“智能”泛指能使机器人解决问题、根据情境做出合理决策并执行决策的各类方法。FRR重点关注针对智能、计算和具身性密不可分的内在联系的研究。同时也欢迎专门就智能、计算或具身性某一特定维度的申请，但研究方案应在某类机器人系统中具有明确的应用价值。
截至目前，FRR共计资助项目213项，主要集中在软体机器人、多机器人系统、飞行机器人及机器人感知与导航等方向。
为动态掌握FRR的高水平成果产出，特对项目PI的顶刊发文进行追踪，其热点主要集中于软体机器人、康复机器人、医疗机器人、微型机器人和仿生机器人等。
以下为FRR代表性PI承担FRR项目及其顶刊发文情况：
YuFeng Chen
MIT
Soft and Micro Robotics Lab
研究方向：Robotics, Systems Theory, Control and Autonomy
NSF FRR项目：3项
资助总金额：$ 1,421,935
立项方向：微型软体飞行机器人、微型仿生扑翼机器人、微型仿生足式机器人攀爬和抓取
顶刊发文 3篇：昆虫级跳跃机器人、微型扑翼机器人
Hybrid locomotion at the insect scale: Combined flying and jumping for enhanced efficiency and versatility, Science Advances, 2025, 11(15)
Acrobatics at the insect scale: A durable, precise, and agile micro-aerial robot, Science Robotics, 2025, 10(98)
Laser-assisted failure recovery for dielectric elastomer actuators in aerial robots, Science Robotics, 2023, 8(76)
Jianguo Zhao
Colorado State University
Adaptive Robotics Lab
研究方向：Robotics and Control, Bio-Inspired Robotics, Visual Servoing
NSF FRR项目：3项
资助总金额：$ 1,098,337
立项方向：UAV自主空中机动、模块化仿生游泳机器人、自主形态/运动可重构软体机器人
顶刊发文 2篇：仿脊椎高性能软体机器人、昆虫着陆机制研究
Leveraging elastic instabilities for amplified performance: Spine-inspired high-speed and high-force soft robots, Science Advances, 2020, 6(19)
Flies land upside down on a ceiling using rapid visually mediated rotational maneuvers, Science Advances, 2019, 5(10)
Kaiyu Hang
Rice University
Robotics and Physical Interactions Lab
研究方向：Robotic Manipulation, Robotic Grasping, Physical Interactions, Motion Planning, Robot Learning, Robot Control
NSF FRR项目：3项
资助总金额：$ 1,032,000
立项方向：机器人操纵与感知
顶刊发文 2篇：机器手高精度操作与控制、UAV栖息与悬停设计
Manipulation for self-Identification, and self-Identification for better manipulation, Science Robotics, 2021, 6(54)
Perching and resting-A paradigm for UAV maneuvering with modularized landing gears, Science Robotics, 2019, 4(28)
Jie Yin
North Carolina State University
Yin Lab
研究方向：Mechanics-Guided Design of Soft Robotics, Mechanical Metamaterials, and Multifunctional Shape-Morphing Materials and Structures
NSF FRR项目：2项
资助总金额：$ 658,275
立项方向：自主形态/运动可重构软体机器人、自驱动/无系留软体机器人
顶刊发文 11篇：磁控形变/折纸结构/机械计算超结构材料、仿生软体游泳/爬行机器人、自主导航软体机器人、多功能软体夹持器等
Magnetic kirigami dome metasheet with high deformability and stiffness for adaptive dynamic shape-shifting and multimodal manipulation, Science Advances, 2024, 10(49)
Spontaneous snapping-induced jet flows for fast, maneuverable surface and underwater soft flapping swimmer, Science Advances, 2024, 10(49)
Adaptive hierarchical origami-based metastructures, Nature Communications, 2024, 15(1)
Squirting-cucumber-inspired miniature explosive hydrogel launcher, Nature Materials, 2024, 23(40)
Reprogrammable and reconfigurable mechanical computing metastructures with stable and high-density memory, Science Advances, 2024, 10(26)
Physically intelligent autonomous soft robotic maze escaper, Science Advances, 2023, 9(36)
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Aaron Young
Georgia Tech Research Corporation
Exoskeleton and Prosthetic Intelligent Controls (EPIC) Lab
研究方向：Wearable Robotics, Biomechanics, Deep Learning, Exoskeletons, Prosthetics
NSF FRR项目：2项
资助总金额：$ 1,100,000
立项方向：通用下肢外骨骼系统、基于AI的下肢外骨骼通用控制模型
顶刊发文 3篇：基于AI的通用下肢外骨骼系统、下肢外骨骼控制系统
AI-driven universal lower-limb exoskeleton system for community ambulation, Science Advances, 2024, 10(51)
Task-agnostic exoskeleton control via biological joint moment estimation, Nature, 2024, 635(8038)
Estimating human joint moments unifies exoskeleton control, reducing user effort, Science Robotics, 2024, 9(88)
Jake Abbott
University of Utah
Magnetic and Medical Robotics Lab
研究方向：Robotic Manipulation, Robotic Grasping, Physical Interactions, Motion Planning, Robot Learning, Robot Control
NSF FRR项目：2项
资助总金额：$ 1,330,928
立项方向：非磁性物体的灵巧操纵、机器人运动控制
顶刊发文 2篇：非磁性物体的灵巧操纵、眼部手术机器人系统设计
Head-mounted surgical robots are an enabling technology for subretinal injections, Science Robotics, 2025, 10(99)
Dexterous magnetic manipulation of conductive non-magnetic objects, Nature, 2021, 598(7881)
Robert Wood
Harvard University
Microrobotics Lab
研究方向：AI, Soft Matter, Modeling Physical/Biological Phenomena and Systems, Bioinspired Robotics and Computing, Robotics and Control
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 325,497
立项方向：仿昆虫足式机器人的攀爬及非规则物体抓取
顶刊发文 8篇：微型仿生扑翼机器人、微型仿昆虫跳跃机器人、仿鲸群的多智能体自主感知与追踪系统、软体机械臂负载提升技术、软体机器人驱动系统、软体机器人抓取、微型手术机器人
Sticking the landing: Insect-inspired strategies for safely landing flapping-wing aerial microrobots, Science Robotics, 2025, 10(101)
A springtail-inspired multimodal walking-jumping microrobot, Science Robotics, 2025, 10(99)
Reinforcement learning-based framework for whale rendezvous via autonomous sensing robots, Science Robotics, 2024, 9(95)
An in situ digital synthesis strategy for the discovery and description of ocean life, Science Advances, 2024, 10(3)
Increasing the payload capacity of soft robot arms by localized stiffening, Science Robotics, 2023, 8(81)
A compact DEA-based soft peristaltic pump for power and control of fluidic robots, Science Robotics, 2023, 8(79)
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Henry Liu
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Mobility Transformation Lab
研究方向：Transportation Engineering, Automotive Engineering, and AI
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 5,118,625
立项方向：自主交通的全自动化增强测试设施
顶刊发文 5篇：自动驾驶安全性验证/智能决策能力/环境建模与学习、交通信号控制优化
Curse of rarity for autonomous vehicles, Nature Communications, 2024, 15(1)
Traffic light optimization with low penetration rate vehicle trajectory data, Nature Communications, 2024, 15(1)
Learning naturalistic driving environment with statistical realism, Nature Communications, 2024, 14(1)
Dense reinforcement learning for safety validation of autonomous vehicles, Nature, 2023, 615(7953)
Intelligent driving intelligence test for autonomous vehicles with naturalistic and adversarial environment, Nature Communications, 2021, 12(1)
Todd Murphey
Northwestern University
Interactive & Emergent Autonomy Lab
研究方向：Human-Swarm Interaction, Embodied Intelligence, Human-Machine Interaction in Biomedical Devices
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 411,557
立项方向：机器人主动学习算法
顶刊发文 5篇：微米级自主低频振荡器、主动学习预测型传感器模型、人机交互
Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order, Nature Communications, 2022, 13(1)
Mechanical intelligence for learning embodied sensor-object relationships, Nature Communications, 2022, 13(1)
Low rattling: A predictive principle for self-organization in active collectives, Science, 2021, 371(6524)
Ergodicity reveals assistance and learning from physical human-robot interaction, Science Robotics, 2019, 4(29)
A robot made of robots: Emergent transport and control of a smarticle ensemble, Science Robotics, 2019, 4(34)
Daniel Preston
Colorado State University
Preston Innovation Lab
研究方向：Energy, Materials, Fluids & Fluid Mechanics
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 600,000
立项方向：可穿戴式机器人
顶刊发文 4篇：可穿戴设备材料/供能装置、气动软体机器人
A wearable textile-based pneumatic energy harvesting system for assistive robotics, Science Advances, 2022, 8(34)
A buckling-sheet ring oscillator for electronics-free, multimodal locomotion, Science Robotics, 2022, 7(63)
A wearable textile-based pneumatic energy harvesting system for assistive robotics, Science Advances, 2022, 8(34)
Pneumatic soft robots take a step toward autonomy, Science Robotics, 2021, 6(51)
Axel Krieger
Johns Hopkins University
Intelligent Medical Robotic Systems and Equipment Lab
研究方向：Surgical Robotic Systems, Robotic Tools, and Laparoscopic Devices
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 615,936
立项方向：自主手术机器人
顶刊发文 4篇：手术机器人通用机器学习模型、基于AI的医疗机器人智能系统、传染疾病防控的自适应机器人系统
SRT-H: A hierarchical framework for autonomous surgery via language-conditioned imitation learning, Science Robotics, 2025, 10(104)
General-purpose foundation models for increased autonomy in robot-assisted surgery, Nature Machine Intelligence, 2024, 6(11)
Artificial intelligence meets medical robotics, Science, 2023, 381(6654)
Physical human-robot interaction for clinical care in infectious environments, Nature Machine Intelligence, 2021, 3(3)
Itai Cohen
Cornell University
Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics
研究方向：Biological Physics, Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 1,262,392
立项方向：基于微流控技术的仿生模块化机器人
顶刊发文 3篇：磁控微型机器人、微型机器人集群协同控制、超材料可形变微纳机器人
Electronically configurable microscopic metasheet robots, Nature Materials, 2025, 24(1)
Magnetically programmed diffractive robotics, Science, 2024, 386(6725)
Coordinated behavior of autonomous microscopic machines through local electronic pulse coupling, Science Robotics, 2024, 9(96)
Vikram Iyer
University of Washington
研究方向：Robotics; Ubiquitous Computing, Sensing & Embedded Systems; Wireless Systems
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 228,749
立项方向：无电池微型机器人传感器
顶刊发文 3篇：折纸型无电池微型飞行器、蒲公英启发的无线传感器、仿昆虫的可机械转向的微型视觉系统
Solar-powered shape-changing origami microfliers, Science Robotics, 2023, 8(82)
Wind dispersal of battery-free wireless devices, Nature, 2022, 603(7901)
Wireless steerable vision for live insects and insect-scale robots, Science Robotics, 2020, 5(44)
Sam Kriegman
Northwestern University
Xenobot Lab
研究方向：AI, Synthetic Biology, Artificial Life, Evolutionary Robotics
NSF FRR项目：1项
资助总金额：$ 413,909
立项方向：光控可重构/可形变生物机器人
顶刊发文 3篇：生物启发的终身学习智能机器、细胞自组装生物机器人、可形变软体机器人
Biological underpinnings for lifelong learning machines, Nature Machine Intelligence, 2022, 4(3)
A cellular platform for the development of synthetic living machines, Science Robotics, 2021, 6(52)
A soft robot that adapts to environments through shape change, Nature Machine Intelligence, 2021, 3(1)
