Oshkosh Corporation, an innovator of mission-critical vehicles and essential equipment, and Carnegie Foundry, a robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) venture studio headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., announced a strategic partnership and Oshkosh Corporation investment in Carnegie Foundry to accelerate innovation in autonomy and robotics.

Carnegie Foundry has an existing relationship with the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) at Carnegie Mellon University, the world leader in autonomous robotics and artificial intelligence. The new partnership will build upon this relationship and will complement Oshkosh’s ongoing work in autonomous vehicles and equipment, providing significant benefits to the millions of people that do important work every day – including the nation’s soldiers, firefighters, and first responders, as well as environmental service, refuse collection and construction workers.

“The Carnegie Foundry team is comprised of industry leaders with outstanding expertise in autonomy,” said John Pfeifer, Oshkosh Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer. “For years Oshkosh has been developing autonomous technology that delivers greater productivity while reducing total cost of ownership for our customers. Oshkosh’s strategic investment in Carnegie Foundry will put our customers at the forefront of emerging innovation and technology in the robotics and autonomy space.”

“We are very excited to partner with Oshkosh Corporation as we bring autonomy, robotics, and AI innovations to market,” said Carnegie Foundry Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Robert J. Szczerba. “Industrial-scale innovations require specialized experience, a deep understanding of these unique markets, and a long-term approach. It’s our good fortune that we found investment, aligned mindsets, and large-scale industrial specialization with our partners at Oshkosh Corporation.”

As part of the strategic partnership, a member of Oshkosh Corporation will join the Carnegie Foundry Board of Directors.