All posts by EPSRC UK-RAS Network

Claire chatted to Dr Maria Bauza Villalonga from DeepMind all about robot learning, transferable skills, and general AI.

Maria Bauza Villalonga is a research scientist at DeepMind. In 2022, she earned her PhD in Robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with Prof. Alberto Rodriguez. Her research focuses on achieving precise robotic generalization by learning probabilistic models of the world that allow robots to reuse their skills across multiple tasks with high success. Maria has received several fellowships including Facebook, NVIDIA, and LaCaixa.

Claire chatted to Dr Jonathan Aitken from the University of Sheffield all about manufacturing, sewer inspection, and robots in the real world.

Jonathan Aitken is a Senior University Teacher in Robotics at the University of Sheffield. His research is focused on building useful, useable, and expandable architectures for future robotics systems. Most recently this has involved building complex digital twins for collaborative robots in manufacturing processes and investigating localisation for robots operating in sewer pipes. His teaching focuses on providing students with the tools to bring distributed computing to complex robotic processes.

Claire chatted to Professor Yang Gao from the University of Surrey all about space robotics and planetary exploration.

Yang Gao is Professor of Space Autonomous Systems and Founding Head of the STAR LAB that specializes in robotic sensing, perception, visual guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) and biomimetic mechanisms for industrial applications in extreme environments. She brings over 20 years of research experience in developing robotics and autonomous systems, in which she has been the principal investigator of over 30 inter/nationally teamed projects and involved in real-world mission development.

Claire chatted to Professor Ignazio Maria Viola from the University of Edinburgh all about aerodynamics, dandelion-inspired drones, and swarm sensing.

Ignazio Maria Viola is Professor of Fluid Mechanics and Bioinspired Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He is the recipient of the ERC Consolidator Grant Dandidrone to explore the unsteady aerodynamics of dandelion-inspired drones.

Claire chatted to Professor Emily S. Cross from the University of Glasgow and Western Sydney University all about neuroscience, social learning, and human-robot interaction.

Emily S. Cross is a Professor of Social Robotics at the University of Glasgow, and a Professor of Human Neuroscience at the MARCS Institute at Western Sydney University. Using interactive learning tasks, brain scanning, and dance, acrobatics and robots, she and her Social Brain in Action Laboratory team explore how we learn by watching others throughout the lifespan, how action experts’ brains enable them to perform physical skills so exquisitely, and the social influences that shape human-robot interaction.

Claire chatted to Dr Sabine Hauert from the University of Bristol all about swarm robotics, nanorobots, and environmental monitoring.

Sabine Hauert is Associate Professor of Swarm Engineering at University of Bristol. She leads a team of 20 researchers working on making swarms for people, and across scales, from nanorobots for cancer treatment, to larger robots for environmental monitoring, or logistics. Previously she worked at MIT and EPFL. She is President and Executive Trustee of non-profits robohub.org and aihub.org, which connect the robotics and AI communities to the public.

Claire chatted to Professor Dan Stoyanov from University College London all about robotic vision, surgical robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Dan Stoyanov, FREng, FIET, is a Professor at UCL Computer Science holding a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. He is Director of the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS), a large research centre combining engineering and clinical expertise. His research interests are focused on surgical robotics, surgical data science and the development of surgical AI systems for clinical use. He is Chief Scientist at Digital Surgery, and he co-founded Odin Vision Ltd as a UCL spin-out focused on AI in gastroenterology.

Claire chatted to Mollie Claypool from Automated Architecture about robot house-building, zero-carbon architecture, and community participation.

Mollie Claypool is CEO of AUAR Ltd, a tech company revolutionising house building using automation. Mollie is a leading architecture theorist focused on issues of social justice highlighted by increasing automation in architecture and design production. She is also Associate Professor in Architecture at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

The EPSRC UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems (UK-RAS) Network is pleased to announce the official launch of its 2023 competitions, inviting the UK’s primary schoolchildren to share their creative robot designs and imaginative stories with a panel of experts, for a chance to win some unique prizes. These annual competitions, which have proved hugely popular with budding authors and illustrators nationwide, are now returning for the fourth year.

The “Draw A Robot” competition challenges children in Key Stage 1 (aged 5-7 years old) to design a robot that they’d like to see in the future. Children can use whichever drawing materials they prefer — paper, pens, pencils, paints, crayons, or even natural materials — to create their ideal robot design, and the robot can be designed to perform any task or job. Competition participants will be able to explain their robot’s functions by labelling gadgets and features on the drawing and writing a short design spec.

For the “Once Upon A Robot” writing competition, Key Stage 2 children (aged 7-11 years old), are invited to write an imaginative short story featuring any kind of robot – or robots – their imagination can conjure! Children will have up to 800 words to tell their creative robot tales and they can choose any literary genre they like. It could be a spine-tingling horror, an action-packed adventure, or even a light-hearted comedy.

ZOOG by Matilde Facchini, age 7 (Draw a Robot 2022 Winner)

Plan-o-bot by Tehmina Walker, age 6 (Draw a Robot 2021 Winner)

The two competitions will be judged by robotics experts from the organising ESPRC UK-RAS Network, plus two very special invited judges. The writing competition will be judged this year by award-winning author Sharna Jackson, whose inspiring and mystifying books include High-Rise Mystery and The Good Turn. The drawing competition will be judged by internationally acclaimed Anglo/American author, illustrator and artist Ted Dewan, creator of the Emmy-Award-winning animated television series Bing.

This year’s exclusive prize packages include:

Draw A Robot Competition winner

• Thames & Kosmos Coding and Robotics kit – contributed by competition partner the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)
• A tour of the AMRC’s Factory 2050 in Sheffield, the UK’s first state-of-the-art factory dedicated to conducting collaborative research into reconfigurable digitally assisted assembly, component manufacturing and machining technologies
• A copy of the book “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, signed by competition judge Ted Dewan

Draw A Robot Competition runner-up

• 4M Green Science Solar Hybrid Power Aqua Robot – contributed by competition partner the UKRI Trust Worthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) hub
• A copy of the book “Top Secret”, signed by competition judge Ted Dewan

Once Upon A Robot Competition winner

• Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor kit – contributed by competition partner Birmingham Extreme Robotics Lab
• A tour of the Extreme Robotics Lab in Birmingham and a robotics masterclass from RobotCoders for the winner and a friend
• Printed copy of the winning story with bespoke illustrations by illustrator and science communicator Hana Ayoob
• A copy of the books “The Good Turn” and “Black Artists Shaping the World”, signed by competition judge Sharna Jackson

Once Upon A Robot Competition runner-up

• Maqueen Lite – micro:bit – contributed by competition partner The National Robotarium
• A copy of the book “High-Rise Mystery”, signed by competition judge Sharna Jackson

For more information, details of prizes, judging criteria and to submit an entry, please visit https://www.ukras.org.uk/school-robot-competition/.

Both competitions are open for entry from the 10th January and will close for submissions on the 23rd April. The winners will be announced at a special virtual award ceremony due to be held on 22nd June 2023.

EPSRC UK-RAS Network Chair Prof. Robert Richardson says: “We are absolutely delighted to be launching these two fantastic competitions for primary schoolchildren for the fourth year running, which offer the next generation a creative way to engage with the exciting world of robotics and automation. We can’t wait to see the imagination and ingenuity that the nation’s young authors and artists bring to these challenges, and we look forward to the very enjoyable task of judging this year’s entries.”

The two creative competitions for young children were first launched in 2020 for UK Robotics Week, now the UK Festival of Robotics – a 7-day celebration of robotics and intelligent systems held at the end of June. This annual celebration is hosted by the EPSRC UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems (UK-RAS) Network, which provides academic leadership in robotics and coordinates activities at 35 partner universities across the UK.