In the Neurobotics Lab at the University of Vermont, we take inspiration from natural systems in biology, psychology, and neuroscience to help us design autonomous robots and decision making systems.  We also apply these machine learning systems to help provide insights into complex fields of study — including social, environmental, and healthcare problems.

In particular, our group specializes in developing, characterizing, and applying bio-inspired optimization algorithms for artificial neural networks.  These include deep learning, reinforcement learning, evolutionary computation, and meta-learning methods.

The lab is directed by Professor Nick Cheney in the Computer Science department at UVM, and we are proud to be a core research group within the Vermont Complex Systems Center — a postdisciplinary team working on real-world, data-rich, and meaningful complex systems problems of all kinds.