When personal computers were first invented, only a small group of people who understood programming languages could use them. Today, anyone can look up the local weather, play their favorite song or even generate code with just a few keystrokes. This shift has fundamentally changed how humans interact with technology, making powerful computational tools accessible to everyone. Now, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are extending this ease of interaction to the world of robotics through a platform called Text2Robot. Developed by engineers at Duke University, Text2Robot is a novel computational robot design framework that allows anyone to design and build a robot simply by typing a few words describing what it should look like and how it should function. Its novel abilities will be showcased at the upcoming IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025) taking place May 19–23, in Atlanta, Georgia. Last year, the project won first place in the innovation category at the Virtual Creatures Competition that has been held for 10 years at the Artificial Life conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The team’s paper is available on the arXiv preprint server.

Full research : Text2Robot platform leverages generative AI to design and deliver functional robots with just a few spoken words.