Robotics Project Releases Toolkit, Digital Robotics Archive

The  Carnegie Mellon University Archives  has joined forces with a cross-campus team of faculty and subject matter experts to release research on the collection, preservation and presentation of robot artifacts and history. The Robotics Project 's  Digital Robotics Archive , one of the first in the field, and  Multimodal Archives Toolkit  kickstart the conversation about stewarding this complex, growing discipline for generations of researchers, historians and enthusiasts to come. Made possible by  a gift from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation , The Robotics Project is an interdisciplinary approach to preserving the legacy of robotics through a partnership between the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries and the  School of Computer Science. It aims to create the world's preeminent resource for robotics history and make that resource available to researchers, enthusiasts, scientists and the general public. The project preserves Carnegie Mellon's robotics legacy and contributes to a broader understanding of the people and technology that created the field. "This toolkit, and the overarching aims of The Robotics Project, revolve around this enduring ambition to better understand scientific processes and creative impulses - and to document those activities. We are trying to uncover and map innovation in practice," said  Brian Mathews , associate dean of research and innovation in the Libraries.