About CoE-BIRD

Twenty years ago, a group of IIT Delhi students built a robot for a competition. Today, that same restless curiosity has grown into an interdisciplinary centre of excellence working on some of the hardest problems in robotics — how machines learn from biological systems, operate autonomously in unstructured environments, and work safely alongside people.

CoE-BIRD is where that work happens. Established formally in 2019 and home to IIT Delhi's M.Tech. in Robotics since 2023, we bring together faculty from multiple departments around a shared conviction: that insights from biology can be translated into robust, real-world robotic systems.

Inception and Evolution

• 2002

  A student robotics club at IIT Delhi begins competing nationally. The foundation of everything that follows.

• 2010

  The Programme for Autonomous Robotics (PAR), backed by BARC/BRNS, formalises collaborative research across departments for the first time.

• 2011 – 2015

  PAR's momentum leads to the founding of the Robotics Society of India and the launch of the undergraduate Interdisciplinary Specialisation in Robotics (IDSR).

• 2019

  IIT Delhi formally recognises BIRD as an institute-level Centre of Excellence.

• 2020

  The I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC) is established as IIT Delhi's Technology Innovation Hub under the Department of Science & Technology.

• 2023

  The M.Tech in Robotics launches — jointly offered by EE, ME, CSE, and the School of AI.

Education, Research, and Impact

In 2023, CoE-BIRD played a pivotal role in launching the M.Tech. in Robotics program at IIT Delhi, jointly offered by the Departments of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, and the School of Artificial Intelligence.

The program features a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum integrating mechanical design, control theory, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and human–robot interaction, with strong emphasis on hands-on learning through laboratory modules, research-driven projects, and collaborations with industry and national R&D agencies.

The centre brings together faculty, students, industry partners, and collaborators to pursue cutting-edge research and technology development spanning dynamics and control, perception and cognition, AI integration, and the deployment of robotic and drone systems in real-world applications.