Carnegie Mellon University has partnered with OptiTrack to equip two research facilities at its newly opened Robotics Innovation Centre (RIC) with motion capture systems. The deployment includes 92 cameras installed across the RIC’s indoor Motion Capture Studio and outdoor Drone Cage as part of a multi-year technology partnership.
The CMU Robotics Innovation Centre
The RIC celebrated its grand opening on 27 February 2026, with a ceremony that demonstrated CMU’s leadership in robotics, physical AI and technology and the university’s role in bringing these technologies from the lab to real-world deployment. The 150,000-square-foot facility at Hazelwood Green – a revitalised development on the former site of Pittsburgh’s historic Jones & Laughlin Steel Mill – houses a 50,000-square-foot robotics testing floor, aquatic research lab, motion capture studio and a 6,000-square-foot outdoor drone cage.
The systems
The indoor Motion Capture Studio features 28 PrimeX41 cameras and four Prime Colour reference cameras, delivering micron-level accuracy across its full 2,800-square-foot volume. The outdoor Drone Cage is outfitted with 60 VersaX120 cameras – OptiTrack’s highest-resolution outdoor camera, engineered with IP66-rated weather protection – covering the full cage volume up to its 38-foot ceiling. Both systems leverage OptiTrack’s proprietary ActiveIO Tracking technology to uniquely identify and track hundreds of objects simultaneously.
A partnership built on shared vision
“We are proud to partner with CMU’s world-class robotics programme. This groundbreaking collaboration validates what our customers already know: OptiTrack leads in precision, scalability and reliability, powered by the most advanced motion capture technology in the industry,” said Sidney Rittenberg, CEO, OptiTrack.
“The future of robotics, physical AI and extended reality will be forged at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Innovation Centre. We are excited to partner with OptiTrack to put their industry-leading motion capture technology in the hands of our researchers. Whether tracking multi-robot systems, drone swarms or human movement, OptiTrack’s suite of cameras and sensors will enable a new generation of discovery,” said Martial Hebert, Dean, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
Powering the next generation of robotics research
The systems will support a broad range of research programmes at the RIC, including autonomous aerial robotics and multi-robot co-ordination through CMU’s AirLab, robotic imitation learning and human activity modelling led by Associate Research Professor Kris Kitani and work aligned with the university’s recently announced Physical AI Accelerator – a state-backed expansion merging robotics, sensing and intelligent systems.
OptiTrack also joined Carnegie Mellon’s Extended Reality Technology Centre (XRTC) as a sponsor. The XRTC, launched in 2023, brings together researchers, industry and consumers to advance virtual, augmented and other extended reality technologies. Researchers in the XRTC intend to use the OptiTrack equipment at the RIC to recreate movement in the virtual world.
