As a development lead for the Autodesk Technology Centers, my team and I have the unique opportunity to engage with industry leaders from around the globe. We scout for teams pushing the boundaries of innovation and invite them to join the Outsight Network, the Technology Centers’ global resident community.

We’ve been building a relationship with Boston Dynamics for a few years, and we recently brought their autonomous robot, Spot, onsite at the Technology Center in Boston. We share a goal of supporting and driving innovation and improving efficiencies using robotics, and together we developed an open call for proposals (CFP) into the Outsight Network.

Stefanie Pender, Senior Shop Supervisor guides Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot

“Our customers are deeply invested in connecting their digital models and assets with their physical sites. This requires the combination of agile, mobile robots for dynamic sensing and advanced design, manufacturing, and construction software,” says Boston Dynamics’ Construction Technology Manager, Brian Ringley.

Calling all innovators

Spot exploring its new home at the Technology Center in Boston.

We’re interested in proposals related, but not limited, to:

• Offline path planning and simulation (leveraging augmented or virtual reality, game engines, BIM, digital twins, etc.)
• Coordination of streaming sensor and reality capture data across multiple platforms
• Hardware interoperability and heterogenous robot fleets
• Machine learning and computer vision integration to improve useability of multiple tools and improve safety protocols and responses
• The integration of new sensing payloads

In each of these cases, we’re hoping to respond to industry trends and deepen relationships with other like-minded organizations. If chosen, you will join the Technology Centers’ resident community of more than 150 teams from industry, academia, and entrepreneurial backgrounds. You’ll also have access to experts from Boston Dynamics.

This is not the first time the Technology Centers have issued a call for proposals. We’ve worked with residents on adapting workflows affected by COVID-19, future use cases for mixed reality headsets with Microsoft’s HoloLens 2, and most recently, how to use AI for machine maintenance and monitoring. The teams who joined the Outsight Network as a result brought important insight into how to solve those problems. There’s no doubt the ones who team up with Spot will do the same.

Submit your proposals and explore new opportunities with the Autodesk Technology Centers Outsight Network here.