News

Professor Sethu Vijayakumar speaks at OGTC's Tech20

Submitted by Zoe McGonigle on Tue, 03/04/2018 - 14:00

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?

Professor David Lane appointed as a Maritime 2050 panel expert

Submitted by ls234 on Thu, 29/03/2018 - 17:21

Maritime 2050 will be a bold new strategic vision to ensure that the UK maritime sector remains a leading global power, strengthening the UK economy for 2050 and beyond.

Professor David Lane has been appointed to the Maritime 20150 panel by the Secretary of State and will look strategically at the issues that will be of critical importance to the maritime industry, and all the industries it sustains, up to 2050. 

Lord Henley visits Edinburgh Centre for Robotics

Submitted by ls234 on Wed, 21/02/2018 - 10:36

A prominent UK Government Minister visited Heriot-Watt University today, to find out more about cutting-edge robotics research.

Lord Henley toured the Ocean Systems and Human Robot Interaction labs to hear more about innovative work which goes on at the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics.

During the event, the Minister met with academics and was given demonstrations of underwater robots, which are used in extreme environments.

ECR team represents UK in global Amazon competition

Submitted by ls234 on Fri, 16/02/2018 - 11:59

Heriot-Watt University’s reputation for AI and robotics has been bolstered after it was selected as the UK’s only entrant in this year’s $3.5 million Amazon Alexa Prize.

A seven-strong group of PhD students – named Team Alana - will once again go head-to-head with universities from around the world to develop an artificial intelligence software that can understand and respond to human conversation.

 

Distinguished Lecture welcomes Professor David Lane

Submitted by ls234 on Fri, 16/02/2018 - 11:00

Heriot-Watt University Dubai welcomed Professor David Lane to the annual Vice-Chancellor Distinguished Lecture.  The prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lectures invite global leaders of industry, business and academia to share their knowledge and vision with students, colleagues and guests.

Professor Lane FREng FRSE CBE, Founding Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics, discussed some of the exciting advances underway in research and innovation, as well as recent successes in commercialisation and international challenge competitions.

International contest reveals assisted living robots of the future

Submitted by ls234 on Thu, 01/02/2018 - 12:00

Europe’s most advanced assisted living robots were showcased in an international tournament at Heriot-Watt University, this week.

Academic teams from across the continent battled it out in the European Robotics League Service Robot Challenge (ERL), testing robots which aim to assist older people in a care setting.

The competition took place in the University’s custom built 60 square metre real life living laboratory, with researchers testing robots which could revolutionise the healthcare and social care sectors. 

Prof Sethu Vijayakumar on BBC Radio Scotland - Brainwaves

Submitted by Zoe McGonigle on Mon, 15/01/2018 - 11:22

On January 17th an interview with Prof Sethu Vijayakumar will air as part of BBC Radio Scotland's Brainwaves series.  

It will be boadcast at 13:30 on Janurary 17th and again on Sunday the 21st at 06:00, with ability to replay on their website by following the link here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m17xr

"What role will robots play in our lives in the future? We already interact with robots on a daily basis but with the development of intelligent, free-thinking robots our relationship with them will change.

Centre wins £36M grant for research into robotics in offshore energy sector

Submitted by Anne Murphy on Mon, 04/12/2017 - 08:54

ORCA Hub (Offshore Robotics for Certification of Assets) is a £36M programme aimed at addressing the offshore energy industry vision for a completely autonomous offshore energy field. The Hub brings together internationally leading experts from five UK universities with over thirty industry partners led by the Edinburgh Centre of Robotics in collaboration with Imperial College, Oxford and Liverpool Universities.

IET ENGFEST

Submitted by Colette Bush on Thu, 30/11/2017 - 10:45

Three of our RAS CDT students exhibited some of our robots at the IET headquarters in London as part of the Festival of Engineering in October. Siobhan Duncan has written about the experience:

 

Vibhav Bharti, James Horn and I travelled to the Institute of Engineering and Technology’s headquarters in London to represent the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics at their recent Festival of Engineering.