Marc Raibert

Marc Raibert
Raibert in three-quarter profile speaking during discussion panel
Raibert in 2023
Born (1949-12-22) December 22, 1949 (age 74)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Known forFounder and Chairman of robot maker Boston Dynamics
Scientific career
FieldsRobotics
Thesis Motor Control and Learning by the State Space Model
Doctoral advisorBerthold K.P. Horn and Whitman Richards

Marc Raibert (born December 22, 1949) is the Executive Director of the Boston Dynamics AI Institute, a Hyundai Motor Group organization.[1] Raibert was the founder, former CEO, and now Chairman of Boston Dynamics, a robotics company known for creating BigDog, Atlas, Spot, and Handle.

Before starting Boston Dynamics, Raibert was professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and an associate professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. At CMU he founded the Leg Laboratory (1980), a lab that helped establish the scientific basis for highly dynamic robots. Raibert developed the first self-balancing hopping robots, a significant step forward in robotics.[2][3] Raibert earned an Electrical Engineering, BSEE from Northeastern University in 1973 and a PhD from MIT in 1977. His dissertation was titled "Motor control and learning by the state space model" and was advised by Berthold Horn and Whitman Richards.[4][5] Raibert is a Founding Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.[6] He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2008 for biomechanically motivated analysis, synthesis, control, and application of multi-legged robots.

Raibert's dream is to advance bipedal and quadrupedal robotics to a supernatural state.[7] Boston Dynamics was acquired by Google in December 2013. On the acquisition, Raibert commented that he was "excited by Andy Rubin and Google’s ability to think very, very big... with the resources to make it happen."[8] In March 2016, Google began offering Boston Dynamics for sale.[9] The company was acquired by SoftBank in June 2017.[10] In 2020, Boston Dynamics was acquired by Hyundai Motor Group.[11]

  1. ^ "Hyundai Motor Group Launches Boston Dynamics AI Institute to Spearhead Advancements in Artificial Intelligence & Robotics" (Press release).
  2. ^ Raibert, Marc (1986). Legged Robots that Balance. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-68119-6.
  3. ^ "Boston Dynamics". Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  4. ^ Raibert, Marc Harold (1977). "Motor control and learning by the state space model". DSpace. hdl:1721.1/16462. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Marc Raibert". www.ai.mit.edu.
  6. ^ "Elected AAAI Fellows". AAAI. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  7. ^ "Marc Raibert: What's New Since BigDog? (IROS 2013 Keynote)". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. 5 November 2013.
  8. ^ Markoff, John (14 December 2013). "Google Adds to Its Menagerie of Robots". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Stone, Brad; Clark, Jack. "Google Puts Boston Dynamics Up for Sale in Robotics Retreat". Bloomberg.com.
  10. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (9 June 2017). "SoftBank is buying robotics firms Boston Dynamics and Schaft from Alphabet | TechCrunch". TechCrunch.
  11. ^ "Hyundai Motors Acquires Boston Dynamics: How Can Robotics Scale Car Manufacturing?". 15 January 2021.