Imagine you’re a farmer who has to monitor miles of corn rows. Not only is it repetitive and time-intensive, but the rows are too narrow to walk in. Perfect job for an autonomous robot! Purdue University researchers have created a small autonomous robot to help farmers monitor crops and regularly collect physical samples, saving them time and effort.

3D printing has revolutionized manufacturing, but it still has some built-in heartache — if your print runs out of filament in the middle of the night, hours of work are ruined. Now, Purdue University alumni have created a solution: Infinity Flow, a new device that automatically loads and feeds multiple rolls of filament into any 3D printer, making the process faster, easier, and totally seamless.

Sometimes bigger is better! Purdue University has passed Georgia Tech to become the largest mechanical engineering school in the nation, demonstrating the Pinnacle of Excellence at Scale.

“Drivers, start your engines!” is the traditional call at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But what if the drivers were replaced by computers? Then you’d have the Indy Autonomous Challenge, a new competition featuring the world’s fastest autonomous race cars. Purdue AI Racing recently showcased its car maneuvering autonomously around the track at speeds up to 140 miles an hour.

Purdue University is forever linked with the Moon, with Boilermakers as the first and last men to walk on the Moon. Now, the next lunar robot may also come from West Lafayette! Purdue Lunabotics students are building autonomous mining robots as part of the NASA Lunabotics Challenge.