Free Robotics Data Collection
for Your Research
DataLoop’s Research Sponsor Program provides university researchers with free, professional-grade robotics data collection and labeling — so you can focus on the science.
What You Get
Everything you need to accelerate your robotics research — completely free.
Free Data Collection
We collect and label robotics data for your research — at no cost. You provide the task specification, we handle the rest.
Professional-Grade Hardware
Access to bimanual manipulation stations, multi-camera rigs, and calibrated sensor suites without capital investment.
Expert Annotation
Our robotics-specialized annotators label your data with temporal consistency, 3D spatial accuracy, and safety-critical precision.
Publication-Ready Datasets
Receive clean, well-documented datasets with confidence scores, metadata, and ROS-compatible formats ready for your papers.
Research Collaboration
Work directly with our academic advisory board and engineering team on dataset design, evaluation protocols, and research methodology.
Co-Publication Opportunities
We welcome joint publications. Your research insights combined with our data infrastructure can produce impactful results.
How It Works
From application to dataset delivery in 4-8 weeks.
Apply
Fill out the application form below with your research goals, data requirements, and robot platform preferences.
Review
Our team reviews your application within 5 business days. We evaluate alignment with our capabilities and research impact.
Design
We collaborate with you to design the data collection protocol — task definitions, sensor configurations, annotation schemas.
Collect & Label
Our operators collect demonstrations using professional hardware. Annotators label the data with multi-pass QA.
Deliver
You receive the complete, labeled dataset in your preferred format. Use it freely in your research and publications.
Who Should Apply
Robotics Researchers
Faculty and PhD students working on manipulation, navigation, imitation learning, VLA models, or sim-to-real transfer.
Embodied AI Labs
Groups building foundation models, reinforcement learning agents, or multi-task robots that need diverse demonstration data.
Applied Robotics Teams
Researchers in surgical robotics, agricultural automation, warehouse systems, or assistive technology.
Benchmark Creators
Teams building evaluation benchmarks, competition datasets, or standardized robotics tasks for the community.
Research Sponsor Application
Tell us about your research and data needs. We'll get back to you within 5 business days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible?
University faculty, postdocs, and PhD students at accredited institutions worldwide. We prioritize robotics, ML, and embodied AI research.
What types of data can you collect?
We specialize in manipulation demonstrations (pick-and-place, assembly, tool use), navigation data, and human-robot interaction recordings. Multi-camera RGB, depth, LiDAR, force-torque, and proprioception are all supported.
How many demonstrations can I request?
Pilot grants start at 100-500 demonstrations. High-impact research projects may receive up to 5,000+ demonstrations. We discuss scope during the design phase.
What robot platforms do you support?
We currently operate WidowX bimanual stations, Franka Emika, and mobile manipulation platforms. Custom hardware integrations are possible for larger projects.
Can I publish papers using this data?
Absolutely — that's the goal. We only ask for an acknowledgment of DataLoop's contribution in your publications. Co-authorship is discussed on a case-by-case basis.
Is there any cost or obligation?
No cost, no equity, no strings attached. We invest in research partnerships because better research leads to better robotics — which grows the market we serve.
How long does the process take?
Application review: ~5 days. Protocol design: 1-2 weeks. Data collection: 2-6 weeks depending on scale. Total: typically 4-8 weeks from application to dataset delivery.
Accelerate Your Research
Stop spending months on data collection. Let DataLoop handle it while you focus on what matters — the science.
Apply Now →