Explore the ISC

The UxV Gym is a 10,000 ft2 modular space that provides flexibility for testing of robots, autonomous systems and other technologies related to intelligent systems. Test capabilities include a motion capture system for 3D motion analysis and a mobility range for robot teams. The motion capture system includes 32 Prime^X 22 cameras and two Prime color cameras mounted on a truss system that covers 11.9m x 18.3m x 3.6m.  The mobility range includes walls, doors, and windows to enable testing of autonomous ground and air vehicles in complex obstacle fields. The UxV Gym also includes a 12m x 12m floor-to-ceiling netted area to support testing of small unmanned aerial systems along with a selection of commercially-available platforms for use.

The ISC’s Software Integration Lab provides a variety of resources for the development and integration of hardware and software, specifically hardware-in-the-loop projects. The lab is a collaborative area that can host small software teams; and is designed to host combinations of desktops, laptops, and hardware; and space to bring hardware. This re-configurable space is designed to host combinations of desktops, laptops, and hardware and offers great flexibility for the teams working in the space. The powerful computing resources are ideal for projects involving modeling and simulation development with high performance processing and/or high-resolution visualization and autonomy software development and integration.

The Rapid Prototyping Lab has full prototyping shop capabilities, allowing the staff to take projects from a sketch on a napkin to a fully realized prototype. The space is useful for the rapid prototyping of mechanical parts and robotic systems—and it houses advanced equipment as well as an assortment of hand tools and bit sizes.  Capabilities in this lab include a CNC mill (Prototrak), a 4’ X 8’ laser cutter (Universal Laser), FDM printers (Prusa Research and Lulzbot), and a drill press, band saw, and belt/disk sander.  The Lab has on-site machining staff to assist with projects, but staff are encouraged to self-support when they have the proper training.

The Innovation Lab is a space of approximately 275 square meters located at the center of the ISC. This area anchors much of APL’s research in ground robotics, advanced manipulation, machine perception, autonomous systems, and novel control for unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned aerial systems. The collaborative space features benches, tools, power supplies, electronics equipment (e.g., oscilloscopes, multimeters), and a moveable, heavy-duty gantry crane.

The Human-Machine Interaction Wing is a 3000 square foot space that includes four single-subject testing rooms, one large group-test room, three dedicated development and test rooms that also allow single- and double-subject testing, a shared control room, a testing preparation lab, and a secure documents storage room. This facility enables a variety of human subjects testing scenarios that include neural imaging, psychophysiological assessment, computational social science, and pre-clinical evaluation of assistive and healthcare technologies. Each testing room has dedicated video and data streaming connectivity with the shared control room, which permits remote operator management of live testing scenarios and remote data collection.

This lab provides a climate-controlled environment with ESD capability for the assembly, testing, or repair of electronic systems. The lab features a full set of electronics tools and test equipment, with soldering stations and exhaust snorkels to remove soldering fumes.

The AI Arena provides both a development environment and a software framework for reinforcement learning research at APL. The Arena features GPU-enabled workstations surrounded by conference tables and soft seating. The space also includes customizable display capabilities incorporating floating monitors and a large screen grid, making it easy to visualize learning environments for artificial intelligence (AI) agents to support research, development and demonstration. The AI Arena software framework facilitates large-scale distributed learning for AI agents in complex real-world environments and provides compatibility with open-source tools such as OpenAI baselines.