Texas AI Docket

The National Science Foundation funds a UT Austin center to put assistive robots into occupied homes, workplaces and care facilities

Research and scienceU.S. National Science FoundationTravisWrite to the decider

The National Science Foundation has made a Science and Technology Center award to the University of Texas at Austin for the Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaptation. Joydeep Biswas is the principal investigator. The award record runs from September 1st, 2026 to August 31st, 2031. The center's stated purpose is to work out how robots and the people around them adapt to each other over long periods. The aim is that assistive and service robots stay safe and aligned with what people actually want. The award abstract commits the work to a network of always on living laboratories in residential, commercial and healthcare buildings rather than to laboratory testing alone. The abstract says those deployments will grow more complex over the life of the center. The abstract describes the facility network as a thing to be built and the award clock started this month.

How to take part

A federal research award carries no comment window. The award record is public and searchable by its own number, and it names the awardee institution and the principal investigator. The university that holds it is a public institution of this state, and its governing board meets in public.

Where to do it

Where

1 county. In Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.

Timeline

  1. decided

    Award date on the federal award record

  2. effective

    Start date on the federal award record

  3. Today
  4. expires

    Expiration date on the federal award record

    1799 days out

How this decision moved

One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.

  1. 2026-09-17

    Admitted to the record. The federal award record carries the dates, the awardee and the abstract that commits the work to occupied buildings rather than to a laboratory. The award clock started this month and nothing is deployed.

  2. 2026-09-20

    The federal award record for the UT Austin center on robots and the people around them still carries the same awardee, the same principal investigator and the same term. Nothing about the award has moved.

  3. 2026-09-23

    The Austin center is still funded to put assistive robots into rooms people actually live in.

  4. 2026-09-26

    The Austin center is still funded to place assistive robots in occupied homes, workplaces and care facilities.

The evidence

Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.

STC: Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaptation
NSF award record 2535195, title Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
For robots to transition from research laboratories to effective collaborators in homes, hospitals, workplaces, and public spaces, they must be able to understand, interact with, and adapt to people over time.
NSF award record 2535195, abstract Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
Research activities will be grounded, tested, and refined through the Human Environment with Robots (HERO) Facility Network, an ecologically valid testing ground comprising always-on, participatory living laboratories in residential, commercial, and healthcare facilities across the partner institution network.
NSF award record 2535195, abstract Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
These deployments will increase in complexity over the Center’s duration, supporting the development of generalizable principles, algorithms, and evaluation methods for long-term human-robot co-adaptation.
NSF award record 2535195, abstract Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
"startDate":"09/01/2026"
NSF award record 2535195, start date Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
Joydeep Biswas, an associate professor of computer science at UT, will lead the team awarded the NSF grant and will serve as the director of the Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaptation.
University of Texas at Austin announcement, dek Primary source, official · news.utexas.edu
"expDate":"08/31/2031"
NSF award record 2535195, expiration date Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
"awardeeName":"University of Texas at Austin"
NSF award record 2535195, awardee Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
"piFirstName":"Joydeep","piId":"269963391","piLastName":"Biswas"
NSF award record 2535195, principal investigator Primary source, official · api.nsf.gov
It is enabling robots to understand the people around them: their needs, preferences, values and constraints, while recognizing that people also adapt their behavior when they integrate robots into their environment.
University of Texas at Austin announcement, Joydeep Biswas Primary source, official · news.utexas.edu

Questions about this decision

Answered from the record itself. Every answer is assembled from stored fields, so an answer the record has no basis for is left out rather than guessed.

What is this decision?

The National Science Foundation has made a Science and Technology Center award to the University of Texas at Austin for the Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaptation. Joydeep Biswas is the principal investigator. The award record runs from September 1st, 2026 to August 31st, 2031. The center's stated purpose is to work out how robots and the people around them adapt to each other over long periods. The aim is that assistive and service robots stay safe and aligned with what people actually want. The award abstract commits the work to a network of always on living laboratories in residential, commercial and healthcare buildings rather than to laboratory testing alone. The abstract says those deployments will grow more complex over the life of the center. The abstract describes the facility network as a thing to be built and the award clock started this month.

Who decides it?

U.S. National Science Foundation decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.

Can the public take part?

A federal research award carries no comment window. The award record is public and searchable by its own number, and it names the awardee institution and the principal investigator. The university that holds it is a public institution of this state, and its governing board meets in public. No dated public window is on the record. The deciding body is named and reachable.

Where in Texas does it apply?

It covers Travis County in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX area.

Has it been decided?

It has been decided. The dates on the item page carry when.

What happens next?

The next dated step is expires, on August 31st, in 1799 days.

When did it start?

The earliest date on its record is August 25th, 2026.

What kind of decision is it?

It is filed under research and science.

What sources back it?

Two sources back it. Two of them are primary.

Is it on the ERCOT grid?

Yes. It sits inside the ERCOT interconnection.

When was it last checked?

Every fact on it was last verified against its source on September 26th, 2026.

Cite this

Texas AI Docket, The National Science Foundation funds a UT Austin center to put assistive robots into occupied homes, workplaces and care facilities. Tracked since August 25th, 2026. Last verified September 26th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0163/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0163.

Beat

Filed under Research and science, with every other decision on that beat.

Last checked 2026-09-26