The Fairborn Institute, since its inception, has been developing increasingly capable telescopes, instrumentation, and software. The “Cal Poly 18,” designed and built by Institute staff members and undergraduate students at California Polytechnic State University, pioneered the use of direct-drives in smaller telescopes that led to the development of the PlaneWave Instruments 0.7- and 1.0-meter production telescopes. Most recently, the Institute has developed a speckle interferometry dual camera system for the 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson. The Fairborn Institute Robotic Observatory (FIRO) supports instrument and software development as well as student research. Students can operate FIRO over the Internet in real time.