Robotics at Poly

Late to the Party? Why? Did We Catch Up?

The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (Brooklyn Poly), now NYU Tandon, is one of the oldest engineering institutes in the country, ranking behind only Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Pennsylvania (Jewell, Griggs, Jr., & Ressler, 2001). Brooklyn Poly is known for pioneering technology such as polymers, mass production of penicillin, and the first-ever closed-chest cardiac defibrillator (Contributors, 2023). However, Poly did not begin investing in robotics (now a very large and lucrative engineering industry) until around 1975-1980 (Polytechnic Institute of New York, 1975-1976). Compared to institutions like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or even Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn Polytechnic was incredibly late to the game in robotics, as the earlier schools had already begun contributing to robotics research and classes in the late 1950s to early 60s (Inigo & Angulo, 1985).

So why was Brooklyn Poly so far behind in robotics research compared to other similar universities? Could it have been that they were late to the robotics investment party because the school was struggling financially and had just gone through a 1973 merger that combined two struggling institutions (Contributors, 2023)? Because Brooklyn Poly operated at a deficit until 1980, under tight budget constraints before the merger with NYU again, it is highly likely that Brooklyn Poly simply was not able to make large investments as other schools were, despite its age and reputation. However, after the second merger with NYU, the makerspace was built, labs were installed in 2008, and Poly entered into an affiliation, which was finalized in 2014 (W. Arenson, 2008).

However, where does NYU Tandon compare today despite these struggles? Are we now a top-tier robotics institution? Did we ever catch up?

(Contributors, 2025)

What is a Robot? Introduction to Robotics

Before we delve into the history of robotics at Brooklyn Poly, let us first investigate exactly what a robot is and why we care. Humans have been trying to figure out ways to do less work since the dawn of time. If a machine can do it for me, why would I? Machines can also perform a variety of tasks that humans can’t, such as working in environments too dangerous for us or working continuously on projects without fatigue.

From the first automated loom to the modern robot vacuum cleaner (Thompson, 2021), humans have been trying to innovate “robots” since the 1800s. Robots nowadays are a major part of human innovation and contribute significantly to manufacturing/factory work, medical surgery, farming, and sanitation (Brodowicz, 2026).

(Thompson, 2021)

So why would investigating a university’s history of robotics matter? Considering that robotics is now a large part of modern society, and around “$90 billion worth of funding has gone into the robotics industry since 2019,” it is important to analyze when top universities began training individuals in robotics, as that likely contributed to the trend of innovation and advancement in current robotics technology (Ledenkof, 2024).

However, when we think of a “robot,” we typically envision something from a sci-fi movie, whether that be C-3PO or WALL-E, we think we know what a robot is and looks like. However, a robot can have a wide variety of classifications, as what is a robot really? Is a toaster a robot? Does it have to be a humanoid? How would an academic institution define a robot?

The most clinical definition of a robot stems from Alan Winfield’s book from 2012 “Robotics: A Very Short Introduction” where he discusses three definitions of a robot which can either be: a device that is capable of sensing its environment and “purposefully act on or in that environment; some form of an embodied artificial intelligence; or a machine that can autonomously carry out useful work” (Winfield, 2012). So, by this definition, a robot is not a toaster, as it cannot carry out ‘useful’ work on its own (autonomously), cannot sense its environment and act on it, and is not some sort of physical form of artificial intelligence.

The term “robot” was first used in 1921 in the play “R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots” by the Czech writer Karel Čapek, which depicted a factory housing thousands of synthetic humanoid robots. Čapek coined the term robot after naming the devices “robots,” using the Czech word robota, which means the forced labor of serfs (Thompson, 2021).

(Contributors, 2014)

When we investigate Brooklyn Poly’s history of classes, current student activities, and robotics research projects, we find that Brooklyn Poly typically uses the 2nd clinical definition of robotics as a form of embodied AI. However, different institutions also define this differently based on their investment and research trends.