Our robotics and autonomous systems research has a distinctive profile developing, integrating and applying novel AI approaches in the design of robots and autonomous systems for real world applications.
This is a highly interdisciplinary Centre, building on the close collaboration between engineering approaches to robotics and control and computer science approaches to AI and cognitive and neural systems. It is further enhanced by robotics research in privacy and ethics in the social sciences.
Our themes
The work of our academics and research labs is aligned around five themes, each focusing on a specific set of key scientific and technological challenges and areas of investigation.
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Platform design, mechatronics and control
Design of new sensing and actuator technologies, the development of novel robot platforms, and research on control methods. The work also focuses on bio-inspired solutions to mechatronics and control, e.g. with the design of biomimetic sensors, actuators and robot platforms and with swarm intelligence approaches for distributed control.
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Verification, security and trust
Design of novel formal techniques, software engineering and AI methodologies for verification in autonomous systems, cybersecurity methods for distributed software architectures, and the wider issues for trustworthy autonomous systems.
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Human-robot interaction and cognitive robotics
Research issues in human-robot interaction and collaboration. This includes novel approaches to joint action and control, telerobotics, intention reading, language and communication, trust, human-robot teamwork and explainable AI. This theme includes work on the use of cognitive- and brain-inspired approaches to robot control, learning and interaction.
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AI, machine learning and data
Development and application of novel AI and learning-based methods to robotics and autonomous systems. This also includes work on ML for vision. It also covers research on data science and machine learning methods for multimodal robot sensing and for data integrating robots within distributed IoT and ambient intelligence environments.
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Ethics and society
Research in ethics and human-centred robotics issues, for the understanding of the impact of the use of robots and autonomous systems with individuals and society (e.g. loneliness), and the considerations of privacy and acceptability of RAS systems. In addition, this theme focuses on robot ethics, i.e. the use of formal methods and tools for ethical machines and the development of robot ethics standards.
Who's involved
Our Centre Directors are:
- Angelo Cangelosi - Co-Director
- Barry Lennox - Co-Director
Our Centre management group are:
- Louise Dennis - Outreach Lead
- Clare Dixon - Funding Lead
- Michael Fisher - EPSRC / RAEng Liaison Lead
- Guido Herrmann - Education / CDT Lead
- Andy Weightman - Industry Liaison
Featured videos
Watch a selection of videos showing the range of our expertise. Our full video catalogue can be found on the Robotics YouTube channel.
Research into maintenance solutions using robotics and virtual reality.
Deploying the MIRRIMAX robot at Sellafield.
Predicting intentions via dynamical clustering of human postures.
Industry collaborations
We pride ourselves on close collaboration with industry. Grants from industry comprise support for EPSRC IAA projects (Sellafield Ltd, Forth Engineering, TPLC, Braendler Engineering, Proctor and Gamble) and KTP Projects (Nuvia, Forth Engineering, Braendler Engineering, Proctor and Gamble), iCASE awards (e.g. BAE Systems), fully funded PhD projects (e.g. Honda HRI Europe and HRI Japan).
We are the lead academic partner in the CINDe PhD Centre, which is supported by NNL and Sellafield Ltd. We are also a strategic partner with BAE Systems, including in robotics projects.
Staff from the Centre are involved in various robotics and engineering institutions and committees, e.g. for contribution to new standards in the field. For example, they contribute to the IEEE p7009 standard for Fail-Safe Design of Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Systems (Fisher), to the BSI AMT / 10 Robotics Committee (Dixon, Fisher), and IEEE P7001 Transparency for Autonomous Systems (Dennis).
They are also involved in the Virtual Engineering Centre.
Get in touch
If you're interested in collaborating with us, or want to know more about the Centre's activities and how to get involved, contact:
Angelo Cangelosi, Co-Director