Grant Solicitation for Massachusetts Robotic Digital Twin Initiative

NOFO No. 2026-JAII-02

The Robotics Department at the Innovation Institute is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Massachusetts Robotics Digital Twin Initiative, a program which aims to increase access to robotics tools across the Commonwealth and support the robotics entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Innovation Institute will grant capital awards on a competitive basis to enable the creation of a common Digital Twin Library, while also supporting robotic companies building hardware. This NOFO seeks to provide capital grant funding to proposals for innovative robotic designs and applications and will support both the building of the robot and the creation of its digital twin, which will be publicly available for use by other researchers or entrepreneurs.

Program Goals

Robotic Digital Twins are advanced simulations that replicate a robot’s ability to sense and move in its environment. Experimentation on physical robots can be costly and potentially dangerous, especially when the experimentation can be unpredictable. Some examples include: 1) educational spaces, where students should feel comfortable making mistakes; 2) AI research, which involves potentially unpredictable algorithms as well as learning from failure; and 3) automating existing processes, which may require testing several different robots to find the best fit. Digital twins enable users to work with robots in a zero-risk environment because they are both low-cost and unbreakable.

There are currently significant barriers to using digital twins due to the need to build them from scratch or invest in integration services. Many of the users who would benefit most from robotic digital twins do not have the knowledge or capacity to develop them themselves. This in turn limits access to experiential robotics training, physical AI research, and robot adoption for logistics and manufacturing purposes.

This NOFO seeks to increase accessibility to robotic digital twins across the Commonwealth by supporting small-to-midsized startups or research labs to productize or manufacture their robot design, as well as develop a publicly accessible digital twin of the robot. We are seeking proposals for novel robot designs and applications from entrepreneurs and research groups willing to contribute to the MA Robotic Digital Twin Library. Preference will be given to groups whose robotic application targets manufacturing, logistics, education, or physical AI research.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must be a Massachusetts-based nonprofit, university research lab, or small-to-midsized business whose primary focus is research or development of a novel, hardware-based robotic platform. To be considered, applicants must demonstrate the technical ability to develop a digital twin of their product and affirm that MassTech can make this digital twin of their product publicly available.

Applicants must also present a strong business case for productizing or manufacturing their robotic platform.

Full details included in the NOFO linked below.

Download Application Documents: 

• Download NOFO No. 2026-JAII-02 (PDF)
• Download Amendment 1 (PDF)
• Download Budget Template (Excel)
• Download Q&A Document (PDF) updated 1/7/26