News archive for April 2018

CreatED 2018 24-hour Hackathon!

CreatED 2018 was a 24-hour hardware Hackathon organised by both the Heriot-Watt Robotics Society and the Robotics Society at the University of Edinburgh. Around one hundred attendees queued outside the Appleton Tower at the University of Edinburgh waiting to collect their t-shirts and wrist bands! Some had backpacks and sleeping bags with them as they had travelled from afar (and even from overseas) to be a part of this great event! 

Representatives from sponsoring companies gave workshops and mentored the participants as they engaged with their various projects. 

PATHCAD team demonstrate sensor development for autonomous vehicles at the British Motor Museum

What if it rains? Indeed, what if it snows or the mist rolls in? Will your autonomous vehicle still be able to guide you safely to your destination? These are the central questions at the heart of the PATHCAD (Pervasive low-TeraHz and Video Sensing for Car Autonomy and Driver Assistance) EPSRC/JLR project conducted by Birmingham, Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities together with the engineering team at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

First Minister welcomes robotic research partnership between China and Scotland

Scotland’s First Minister has welcomed a unique robotics partnership – set to forge strong links between Scotland and China.

The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics has joined forces with The State Key Laboratory of Robotics in Shenyang to work on joint research projects in marine robotics, nano robotics, electric power industry robotics and medical robotics.

Socially Competent Robot (SoCoRo) team attend Scottish Autism Conference

Ever wondered what it would be like to have a robot boss or robot colleague? This is just one of the topics raised by the Socially Competent Robot (SoCoRo) team at this year’s Scottish Autism Conference. The event, hosted by the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) on 28th March, gave researchers the opportunity to openly discuss the SoCoRo project aims, and gather feedback from a variety of interested parties: parents of autistic children, academics, teachers, and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

As Dr Peter McKenna explained,

Professor Sethu Vijayakumar speaks at OGTC's Tech20

The Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) has launched a series of weekly events called 'Tech20'.  It is hoped that these social showcases, where speakers present technology focused topic, will inspire a culture of innovation in the North-East of Scotland.

On March 30th Professor Sethu Vijayakumar participated as a keynote speaker at the OGTC in Aberdeen as part of the Tech20 event series.  His talk was titled: Shared Autonomy: The Future of Interactive Robotics?