The National Robotarium team were thrilled to take part in ICRA 2023, a major International Conference on Robotics and Automation), held in London's ExCeL centre from 29 May - 2 June. With an audience of over 6000 experts from science, industry and research, the team showcased some of our latest robotic technology and how we're using it to address challenges in sectors including offshore energy, asset maintenance, construction and healthcare.
WATCH: Members of the team share their ICRA insights live from the event, on our YouTube channel. Or view this cool video reel taken from lead organiser for the National Robotarium, Project Manager, Ruth Plant.
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Senior figures from the National Robotarium were invited to represent the facility at the 2023 Royal Highland Show. Exhibiting as part of the UK Government stand, the event coincided with a new agricultural partnership announcement with Small Robot Company and James Hutton Institute (see Hitting the Headlines below).
During the four-day event, CEO Stewart Miller attended a private reception hosted by Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair Jack, and Business Development Manager Lisa Farrell discussed with First Minister Humza Yousaf how the National Robotarium is strengthening Scotland's robotics capabilities .
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Professor Oliver Lemon has been named as the new National Robotarium co-academic lead. Professor Lemon, whose background is focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, succeeds Professor Helen Hastie, who has taken up a new post as Head of School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Oliver will join existing co-leads - Prof. Yvan Petillot (Heriot-Watt) and Professors Adam Stokes and Sethu Vijayakumar (The University of Edinburgh) - in overseeing the centre's academic research and strengthening collaboration between the two partner institutions.
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From 10-14 July, the team co-hosted 'We, Robot' a special design sprint workshop with partners Virgin Media o2. The sprint, held at Newcastle Racecourse as part of the Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) annual Innovation Festival, brought participants from a wide range of backgrounds together to ideate and create new robotic solutions for improving water infrastructure and utilities.
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On 30 June, scientists, lawyers, sociologists and engineers took part in a one-day collider event focused on developing robotics for a more sustainable world. Sponsored by SICSA and led by the rECOver group, including Dr Karen Donaldson and Ruth Plant from the National Robotarium Project Management team, the event aimed to break down negative perceptions about 'green' technologies and inform future research into sustainable energy solutions using robotics.
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The first annual International symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems was held in part at the National Robotarium on 11-12th July. The event, led by the UKRI TAS Hub, attracted experts from around the globe to discuss the latest research and innovation in ethical and responsible robotics and AI. The facility played host to lunchtime talks, film screenings and a special evening reception.
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The National Robotarium are the first commercial buyers of a 'Tom v4' agritech robot from Small Robot Company and are working with environmental science centre James-Hutton Institute to test Tom's capabilities in sustainable 'per plant' farming and develop its operation and control system. The new partnership was launched at the 2023 Royal Highland Show, where the facility exhibited as part of the UK Government stand, and was featured as the leading news item on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today.
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Electric remotely operated vehicles (eROVs) that perform maintenance and repair tasks on offshore wind turbines are being developed by the National Robotarium in a new £1.4m partnership project with Fugro. The Underwater Intervention for Offshore Renewable Energies (UNITE) project, led by co-academic lead Prof. Yvan Petillot, aims to dramatically improve health and safety for workers by reducing the need for potentially hazardous offshore maintenance missions conducted by crewed support vessels.
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An underwater robotic sorting device which helps fishing trawlers prevent bycatch is being developed by scientists with support from experts in the National Robotarium’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) laboratory. Smartrawl uses AI-technology to determine the individual size and species of marine life captured inside a trawl net using images taken by an underwater stereo camera. It then releases or retains each marine animal depending on whether it qualifies against a trawler’s intended catch using a computer-controlled robotic gate.
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The National Robotarium Atrium space has a new tenant in the form of a robotic SpyWhale. The robotic functionality of the 3.5 metre long whale was developed by facility residents Shakey Robotics who, alongside our CEO Stewart Miller (pictured), was featured in a special report about the creation on BBC Reporting Scotland. You can see SpyWhale in action on the BBC's Spy in the Ocean series where the remote-operated animatronics capture never-before-seen glimpses of animal behaviours.
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Industry residents Touchlab, have launched a first-of-its-kind robot which gives clinicians the ability to ‘feel’ patients remotely as part of a Finnish hospital pilot. Controlled by operators wearing an electronic haptic glove, the Välkky telerobot is equipped with Touchlab's electronic skin (e-skin) technology to transfer a sense of touch from its robotic hand to users. The 3-month pilot at Laakso Hospital in Helsinki will see a team of purpose-trained nurses explore how robotics systems can help deliver care, reduce workload and prevent the spread of infections or diseases.
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Outreach team commended at Heriot-Watt staff awards
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The National Robotarium's public engagement and outreach activities were recognised in the Heriot-Watt 'Celebrating our People' Awards on 15 June. The team, including students, academics, research engagement and the National Robotarium's dedicated leads Sabaht Bashir and Blair Wilson, were 'Highly Commended' in the 'Living our Values in Action' category.
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On 19 May, we hosted the first ever Heriot-Watt Robotics Society Robot Boat competition. Members assembled DIY boats using upcycled materials and basic hardware skills to ensure they were operational by the time they hit the National Robotarium moat with overall winner Lucy (pictured) being crowned champion on the day. Visit our YouTube channel for a round-up video from the day.
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Participants in this year's UK Robotics Robot Lab Live event got to navigate robot dog Spot around our RAS (Robotics and Autonomous Systems) Lab. The event, held online on 21 June, showcases the best of UK robotics research and technology. You can watch the National Robotarium feed on the Robotics Week website.
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Over 1300 learners tuned into our soft robotics lesson, developed exclusively for Scottish Computing Science Week, on 18 May. The live lesson, led by Senior Robotics Engineer Dr Alix Partridge, explored soft robotic technologies and how they can be used in different industries. The programme of live and virtual CS Week activities was organised by Education Scotland to celebrate computing science in Scottish Schools.
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Dr Alistair McConnell showcased the real-world benefits of robotics science at a Heriot-Watt event in London in July. The 'Watt Matters' event was for students interested in careers in Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Business or Psychology. WATCH a round-up video of the session via this link.
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The programme for the next Computer Science Seminar Series has been announced. Following a short summer break, the series will resume on 23 August with a talk from Senior Lecturer at the University of York, Dr Siamak Shahandashti. The series is organised by Computer Science researchers from Heriot-Watt University and The University of Edinburgh with an aim of building shared knowledge and fostering new collaborations. View the full programme using this link.
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CEO Stewart Miller has been announced as a speaker at IFA, a major consumer electronics conference taking place in Berlin from 1-5 September. Stewart will speak as part of the IFA Leaders Summit panel, 'How automation is revolutionising the way we live and work', alongside Touchlab COO, Laura Garcia Caberol. Steve Maclaren, COO at the National Robotarium, is also speaking at the event, delivering a keynote talk as part of the Sustainable Village Programme on 2 Sept.
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Representatives from the built environment, construction, trade, science and policy gathered in Edinburgh on 2 May for a half-day event at the National Robotarium, co-hosted with BE-ST (Built Environment – Smarter Transformation), Scotland’s innovation centre for accelerating the built environment’s transition to zero carbon emissions.‘The Robots are Here’ marked the beginning of a new partnership, which aims to raise awareness of the benefits of greater automation and use of robotics in the construction and built environment sectors.
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Members of the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Science and Technology visited the National Robotarium on 16 May. The delegation, led by convenor Clare Adamson MSP, met with CEO Stewart Miller who gave an overview of the facility's journey so far and how continued investment can make the UK a competitive player in the global demand for robotics and AI. Following the visit, during a Scottish Government debate on trustworthy AI on 1 June, Ms Adamson namechecked the centre and the positive impact we're having on robotic research and development.
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Research Associate, Grade 7, £35,308-£43,155 - closes 27 July
Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow, Grade 8/9, £44,414-63,059 - closes 8 August
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