Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

1990—IHMC is founded as a research institute by Dr. Kenneth M. Ford, Dr. Alberto Cañas, and Dr. Bruce Dunn on the campus of the University of West Florida, growing primarily out of the computer science and psychology departments.[3]

2004—The Florida Legislature, under the K-20 Education Code, establishes IHMC as an independent, statewide research institute.[4] IHMC maintains affiliations with several Florida universities.[5]

2007—IHMC is recognized by the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the institute's impact on downtown Pensacola.[6]

2008—IHMC director becomes chairman of the NASA Advisory Council.

2010—IHMC opens a new research facility in downtown Ocala in central Florida.[7]

2013—A team from IHMC competes in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge, placing first in the Virtual Robotics Challenge and second in the DRC Trials.[8][9][10]

2014—An IHMC robot sets a new land-speed record for legged robots.[11] Also that year, DARPA awards IHMC scientists a $3 million grant to research Big Mechanisms, using computers to analyze vast amounts of research and identify underlying mechanisms in complex systems.[12]

2015—IHMC's team of robotics scientists places second and is awarded $1 million in the final round of the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The competition pitted bipedal robots from 23 teams from around the world on a course that emulated a disaster area where humans could not safely go. The robots had to drive a car, open a door, turn a valve, throw a switch, cut a hole in a wall, walk over rubble and climb stairs.[13] Also this year, IHMC breaks ground on a 30,000-square-foot building in downtown Pensacola, with expanded laboratories, research areas and offices.[14] Also this year, IHMC senior research scientist Jerry Pratt is named to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.[15]

2016—IHMC's robotic team participates in the Cybathlon, an international competition for cyber-assisted athletes. IHMC's Mark Daniel piloted MinaV2, IHMC's third generation paraplegic mobility exoskeleton, and placed second in the powered exoskeleton race. [16]

2020-IHMC's robotic exoskeleton team participates in two international competitions, Cybathlon 2020 and the Mobility Unlimited Challenge sponsored by the Toyota Mobility Foundation. [17][18]

IHMC's human-centered research is focused on the development of technological systems designed to amplify human cognitive, physical, and perceptual abilities.[19][20]

Research areas include biologically-inspired robotics, including humanoids and exoskeletons;[21] human-centered interfaces and displays;[22] artificial intelligence;[23] adjustable autonomy; knowledge modeling and sharing; human-machine teamwork, collaboration and coordination; communication, information management and dissemination in challenging networked environments; software agents; expertise studies; computer and network security; natural language understanding; work-practice simulation; knowledge representation; agile and distributed computing;[24] trust in autonomy; and concept mapping.[25]

IHMC has received research funding from government and private-sector sources, including DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, and other agencies, foundations and companies.[26]

IHMC is home to more than 100 researchers and technical staff, many of whom are leading figures in their research fields.[27] Six researchers associated with IHMC have been named fellows at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.[28] Four people affiliated with IHMC have been inducted as fellows into the National Academy of Inventors.[29]

IHMC has multiple research facilities located in Pensacola and Ocala Florida.

IHMC sponsors a number of outreach efforts in the local community, including a public Evening Lecture Series in both Pensacola and Ocala. The series has hosted dozens of notable speakers and in 2011 was recognized by STEMflorida Inc., a not-for-profit group that promotes science, technology, engineering and math education. IHMC also supports local education through programs such as its Science Saturdays, I LOVE Science, and robotics open houses and summer camps.[30]

In early 2000, IHMC began production on the Evening Lecture Series. Each lecture features a visiting researcher, thought leader, or public figure and focuses on educating the public on a variety of topics. There are over two hundred IHMC Evening Lectures hosted on YouTube as of December 2020. [31]

[32]

STEM-Talk
Presentation
Hosted by	Dawn Kernagis Kenneth M. Ford Thomas David Jones Dominic D’Agostino
Genre	Science & Medicine
Format	Long format interview
Length	1-2+ hours
Production
Production	Randy Hammer Alan Ordway Jordan Accardo William Howell
Audio format	Stereophonic
Publication
Original release	March 1,2016 – present
Website	www.stemtalk.us

STEM-Talk is a bi-weekly podcast produced by the institute. The podcast launched on March 1, 2016 with guest Peter Attia discussing his research into health and longevity.[33] As of December 2020, there are 116 episodes with subjects discussing a wide variety of research topics.[34]

STEM-Talk received the 2017 & 2019 Skeptics Guide to Science & Medicine award from the People's Choice Podcast Awards,[35] and was nominated for the 2019 Science & Education Webby Award. [36]

• CmapTools

• Watch six-legged robot run as fast as a car. CBS News.
• Sweep the Leg! Atlas Humanoid Robot Shows 'Karate Kid' Moves. NBC News (video)
• U.S. military building robotic ostrich for recon, search and rescue. VentureBeat.

• Official website
  • Researchers
  • Evening Lecture series
  • CmapTools
  • YouTube channel
• Team IHMC at the DARPA Robotics Challenge