USC’s Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) has completed a major upgrade to its space robotics and dynamics laboratory with the installation of a new 6 ft × 8 ft precision granite slab.

The new surface expands SERC’s ultra-flat test area for its contact-dynamics “floatbots,” enabling higher-fidelity investigation of spacecraft interaction, docking, assembly, and contact dynamics in a ground-based environment.

The upgraded facility will support several upcoming research efforts, including Optical Reef demonstrations in distributed guidance, navigation, and control (GNC), autonomous structural assembly, and high-fidelity optical tracking. It will also support expanded partnership demonstrations with Arkisys involving NASA’s Astrobee robotic free-flyer technology.

The expanded testbed provides SERC students and researchers with a larger, more capable environment to move space robotics concepts from simulation to integrated hardware demonstrations.

The new facility will be on full display during LA Tech Week 2026, with live demonstrations showcasing the next generation of autonomous space robotics, assembly, and distributed spacecraft operations.