McGill University's robotics program gets $5M grant

A McGill University program working on the development of amphibious robots has received a major financial boost from the federal government. Today, the winners of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) Strategic Network Grant (SNG) were announced at the Montreal university. A $5-million grant was awarded to the robotics program at McGill led by computer science professor Gregory Dudek. Dudek's Canadian Field Robotics Network is working on developing robots that could some day help save lives. The hope is that the robots — which can fly, crawl over snow and ice and swim under water — will help in situations where harsh conditions are too dangerous or costly for humans.