Russ Tedrake
Russ Tedrake is an American roboticist and the Toyota Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He led MIT’s DARPA Robotics Challenge team, directed large behavior model research at the Toyota Research Institute, and in 2026 co-founded Walden Robotics, where he is CEO.
Contents17 sections
Key facts
1999Earns BSE from the University of Michigan
In 1999 Tedrake received a BSE in computer engineering from the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a university founded in Detroit in 1817 that moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1837; it is governed by a statewide-elected Board of Regents and also has campuses in Dearborn and Flint.Open the full entry, Ann Arbor. During his education he also spent time at MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft is a technology company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with businesses spanning Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, gaming and devices.Open the full entry, Microsoft Research and the Santa Fe Institute.[1]
August 2004Defends PhD at MIT
On August 30, 2004, he defended his PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, advised by H. Sebastian Seung; from 2004 to 2005 he was a postdoctoral associate in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.[2]
2005–2012Joins the MIT Faculty and Earns Tenure
He was an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT from 2005 to 2009, became an associate professor in 2009, took a courtesy joint appointment in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2011, and received tenure in 2012.[2]
February 2005Demonstrates the Self-Learning Walker Toddler
On February 17, 2005, he demonstrated MIT’s “Toddler” robot at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Built on passive-dynamic walking, it used a learning program to teach itself to walk in under 20 minutes, or about 600 steps; the paper appeared in the February 18 issue of Science, with co-authors including Andy Ruina, Steven Collins and Martijn Wisse.[3]
July 2010A Glider That Perches Like a Bird
In July 2010 MIT described a control system he developed with PhD student Rick Cory: they modeled a glider in stall, computed trajectories to a perch and added error-correcting controls, letting a foam glider land on a perch or wire like a parakeet.[4]
June 2015Leads MIT to Sixth Place in the DARPA Robotics Challenge
On June 5–6, 2015, he led MIT’s team as CSAIL principal investigator at the DARPA Robotics Challenge finals, programming a Boston Dynamics-built Atlas humanoid to open doors, drive a car and climb stairs, and finished sixth. He said, “This is, without a doubt, the most ambitious project that any of us have ever undertaken.”[5]
January 2016Joins the Toyota Research Institute
On January 5, 2016, Toyota announced the leadership team of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), with him, then an associate professor of EECS at MIT, responsible for “Simulation and Control,” working part time while keeping his university role.[6]
2020Publishes Robotic Manipulation Course Notes
Since 2020 he has written and published online the course notes Robotic Manipulation: Perception, Planning, and Control for his MIT fall course, with lecture videos on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry.[7]
August 9, 2020Appears on the Lex Fridman Podcast
On August 9, 2020, he appeared on episode 114 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, introduced as a roboticist, MIT professor and TRI vice president of robotics research; topics included passive dynamic walking, the DARPA Robotics Challenge, simulating robots, underactuated robotics and touch.[8]
September 19, 2023TRI Unveils Diffusion Policy Teaching
On September 19, 2023, TRI announced a generative AI approach based on Diffusion Policy that can quickly teach robots new dexterous skills from dozens of demonstrations, calling it a step toward “Large Behavior Models” for robots. He, then TRI’s vice president of robotics research, said, “What is so exciting about this new approach is the rate and reliability with which we can add new skills.”[9]
2024Receives MIT Teaching Awards
In 2024 he, the Toyota Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Aeronautics and Astronautics, received MIT EECS’s Digital Innovation Award.[10]
That year he also received the MIT School of Engineering Distinguished Educator Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to undergraduate or graduate education.[11]
October 16, 2024Co-leads the Boston Dynamics–TRI Partnership
On October 16, 2024, Boston Dynamics and TRI announced a research partnership to accelerate general-purpose humanoid development using TRI’s large behavior models and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot; he and Scott Kuindersma, Boston Dynamics’ senior director of robotics research, would co-lead the Boston-based research partnership.[12]
July 2025TRI Publishes a Large Behavior Model Study
On July 7, 2025, TRI’s large behavior model team published a paper extending Diffusion Policy to multitask manipulation policies trained on simulated and real robot data and evaluating them in blind, randomized trials; he was among the last authors who led the project.[13]
2026Founds Walden Robotics
On July 15, 2026, Walden Robotics of Cambridge, Massachusetts, launched with a $300 million seed round co-led by Toyota and Deviation Capital at a $1.1 billion valuation; founded that year by researchers from TRI, MIT, Stanford and Amazon, it has him as co-founder and CEO.[14]
The company spun out of TRI to continue his work on “large behavior models”; its first robots use wheeled bases, already work in a Toyota plant in North America and are offered as a service. He said the name, inspired by Walden Pond, is also a nod to Henry David Thoreau’s writings on leading a purposeful life.[15]
As of October 2026: MIT Toyota Professor and Walden Robotics CEO
As of October 2026, the Conference on Robot Learning 2026 keynote bio describes him as co-founder and CEO of Walden Robotics, Toyota Professor of EECS, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and former TRI senior vice president of large behavior models, known for leading the open-source robotics toolkit Drake and for his online courses and textbooks.[16]
Drake’s website says the C++/Python toolbox was started by the Robot Locomotion Group at MIT CSAIL, with core development now led by TRI, and emphasizes optimization-based design and analysis of robots.[17]
His other online notes, Underactuated Robotics: Algorithms for Walking, Running, Swimming, Flying, and Manipulation, serve his MIT spring course.[18]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Personal website: Public link: https://locomotion.csail.mit.edu/russt.html (opens in a new window)[1]
MIT: Official website: https://www.mit.edu/ (opens in a new window)[1]
Walden Robotics: Official website: https://www.waldenrobotics.com/ (opens in a new window)[19]
Toyota Research Institute: Official website: https://tri.global/ (opens in a new window)[12]
Sources
- Robot Locomotion Group (opens in a new window)
- RUSSELL L. TEDRAKE (opens in a new window)
- Teams build robots that walk like humans | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (opens in a new window)
- A plane that lands like a bird | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (opens in a new window)
- MIT team places sixth at international DARPA Robotics Challenge | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (opens in a new window)
- Toyota Research Institute Announces All-star Leadership Team for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website (opens in a new window)
- Robotic Manipulation (opens in a new window)
- #114 - Russ Tedrake: Underactuated Robotics, Control, Dynamics and Touch | Lex Fridman Podcast (opens in a new window)
- Toyota Research Institute Unveils Breakthrough in Teaching Robots New Behaviors | Toyota Research Institute (opens in a new window)
- EECS 2024 Awards - MIT EECS (opens in a new window)
- School of Engineering faculty and staff receive awards in spring 2024 | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (opens in a new window)
- Boston Dynamics & TRI Announce Partnership | Boston Dynamics (opens in a new window)
- A Careful Examination of Large Behavior Models for Multitask Dexterous Manipulation (opens in a new window)
- Walden Robotics Launches with $300 Million to Put General-Purpose Robots to Work Today (opens in a new window)
- Boston-area AI startup Walden Robotics raises $300 million (opens in a new window)
- CoRL 2026 - Keynotes (opens in a new window)
- Drake: Model-Based Design and Verification for Robotics (opens in a new window)
- Underactuated Robotics (opens in a new window)
- Walden Robotics | Build the Future of Physical AI with Us (opens in a new window)