On February 6, 2009, Florida A&M University became the first of five ARTSI HBCUs to receive a new Chiara robot. Developed by Professor David Touretzky and his students in Carnegie Mellon's Tekkotsu Lab, the Chiara is designed for robotics education and research. Shown below are FAMU computer science professor Clement Allen, graduate student Sherene Cambell, and undergraduate Owen Watson.

ARTSI was able to supply Chiaras to five member schools thanks to funding provided by Seagate Research. More information about the Chiara is available at Chiara-Robot.org .