All posts by Robot Talk

Claire chatted to Lord Ara Darzi from Imperial College London all about robotic surgery – past, present and future.

Ara Darzi is Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. In 2002, he was knighted for his services to medicine and surgery and in 2007 was introduced as Lord Darzi of Denham to the UK’s House of Lords as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health. Professor Darzi leads a large multidisciplinary academic and policy research team, focused on convergence science across engineering, physical and data sciences, specifically in the areas of robotics, sensing, imaging and digital and AI technologies. He is Chair of the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Claire chatted to Isabelle Ormerod from the University of Bristol all about human-centred design and women in robotics.

Isabelle Ormerod is a PhD student at Bristol Robotics Lab in the Design and Manufacturing Futures Lab. Her professional path began in the medical product design industry, where she observed firsthand the application of human factors (HF) processes for dextrous and high-risk procedures. This experience sparked her interest in leveraging data-driven HF approaches in product design. Isabelle is also part of the Leadership team of Women in Robotics UK. This organization is committed to fostering an inclusive community for women and non-binary individuals in the robotics field in the UK.

Claire chatted to Mario Di Castro from CERN all about robotic inspection and maintenance in hazardous environments.

Mario Di Castro has a Master’s degree in electronic engineering from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy and a PhD in robotics and industrial controls from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in Spain. Since 2011 he has led the Mechatronics, Robotics and Operation section at CERN. The section is responsible for the design, construction, installation, operation and maintenance of robotic systems used for remote maintenance at the CERN accelerator complex. His research interests include tele-robotics, machine learning, and precise motion control in harsh environments.

Claire chatted to Margarita Chli from the University of Cyprus all about vision, navigation, and small aerial drones.

Margarita Chli is a professor of Robotic Vision and the director of the Vision for Robotics Lab, at the University of Cyprus and ETH Zurich. Her work has contributed to the first vision-based autonomous flight of a small drone and the first demonstration of collaborative monocular SLAM for a small swarm of drones. Margarita has given invited keynotes at the World Economic Forum in Davos, TEDx, and ICRA, and she was featured in Robohub’s 2016 list of “25 women in Robotics you need to know about”. In 2023, she won the ERC Consolidator Grant to research advanced robotic perception.

Claire chatted to Patricia Shaw from Aberystwyth University all about home assistance robots, and robot learning and development.

Patricia Shaw is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Robotics at Aberystwyth University. Her current research interests include technology for assistive living and she is currently leading on establishing a new Smart Home Lab at the university. This new lab will be used to research, develop and test a wide range of sensing technology for monitoring activities in the home as well as robots ranging from companions to assistants around the home. She strongly supports public engagement and has been coordinating regional robotics week events for the last 6 years.

Claire chatted to Rav Chunilal from Sellafield all about robotics and AI for nuclear decommissioning.

Rav Chunilal is the Head of Robotics & Artificial Intelligence at Sellafield Ltd, the UK’s largest nuclear site. He is responsible for developing and deploying Robotics and AI technologies to decommission the site safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Under Rav’s leadership, Sellafield Ltd and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Group has established itself as a leader in the use of Robotics and AI for nuclear decommissioning. The company has developed and deployed a wide range of robotic technologies to perform tasks such as remote inspection, waste handling, and demolition.

Claire chatted to Ayse Kucukyilmaz from the University of Nottingham about collaboration, conflict and failure in human-robot interactions.

Ayse Kucukyilmaz is Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham and a founding member of the CHART research group. Her research focus is human-centered robotics, where she specialises in haptic shared and traded control for physical human-robot interaction. Her group primarily works on adjustable autonomy paradigms to enable dynamic switching behaviours between different levels of robotic autonomy (e.g. full human control vs. full autonomy) during shared control of a physical task, enabling effective human-autonomy teaming.

Claire chatted to Jorvon (Odd-Jayy) Moss from Digikey about making robots at home, and robot design and aesthetics.

Commonly known as Odd-Jayy, Jorvon Moss is an accomplished Maker best known for his Robotic Oddities. Jayy’s art background, BFA in Illustration, and self-taught electronics skills have combined to help launch his career and promote the wonderful world of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). This achievement, and the many viral videos under his belt, gained him recognition from major forces in the industry; including Digi-Key Electronics, Tested Inc. with Adam Savage, various electronic and tech Faires, and as the first Black person in Make Magazine.

Claire chatted to Masoumeh (Iran) Mansouri from the University of Birmingham about culturally sensitive robots and planning in complex environments.

Masoumeh Mansouri is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. Her research includes two complementary areas: (i) developing hybrid robot planning methods for unstructured environments shared with humans, and (ii) exploring topics at the intersection of cultural theories and robotics. In the latter, her main goal is to study whether/how robots can be culturally sensitive given the broad definitions of culture in different fields of study.

Claire chatted to Carl Strathearn from Edinburgh Napier University about humanoid robots, realistic robot faces and speech.

Carl Strathearn is a researcher interested in creating assistive social humanoid robots with embodied AI systems that appear, function, and interact like humans. He believes that creating realistic humanoid robots is significant to humanity as the human face is the most natural interface for human communication, and by emulating these conditions, we can increase accessibility to state-of-the-art technology for everyone and support people with specific health conditions and circumstances in their day-to-day lives.

Claire chatted to Ffion Llewellyn from Oshen about sea-faring robots and ocean sensing.

Ffion Llewellyn graduated from Imperial College London in 2022 with a masters in Aeronautical Engineering. Following this, she joined Oshen who are building low cost, autonomous micro-vessels for remote ocean sensing. Ffion has been focused on the integration and testing of sensors onto Oshen’s autonomous micro-vessels, including metocean sensors and hydrophones for the monitoring of marine mammals. Her role also includes the design and manufacture of the micro-vessels, conducting sea trials and analysing the data collected.

Claire chatted to Lorenzo Jamone from Queen Mary University of London all about robotic hands, dexterity, and the sense of touch.

Lorenzo Jamone is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at Queen Mary University of London, where he is the founder and director of the CRISP group: Cognitive Robotics and Intelligent Systems for the People. He received a PhD degree in humanoid technologies at the Italian Institute of Technology. He was previously an Associate Researcher at Waseda University in Japan, and at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal. His current research interests include cognitive robotics, robotic manipulation, force and tactile sensing, robot learning.

Claire chatted to Kate Devlin from King’s College London about the social and ethical implications of robotics and AI.

Kate Devlin is Reader in Artificial Intelligence & Society in the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London. She is an interdisciplinary computer scientist investigating how people interact with and react to technologies, both past and future. Kate is the author of Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots, which examines the ethical and social implications of technology and intimacy. She is Creative and Outreach lead for the UKRI Responsible Artificial Intelligence UK programme — an international research and innovation ecosystem for responsible AI.

Claire chatted to Guillaume Doisy from Dexory about autonomous warehouse robots, mobile robotics, and software.

Guillaume Doisy is the current Lead Systems Architect at Dexory, the leading UK robotics and AI company building state-of-the-art fully autonomous mobile robots for use in warehouses. Guillaume has a wide range of responsibilities including building the robots ability to function autonomously. The French native has significant expertise in the field of autonomous mobile robots having begun his career at French start-up Wyca as Chief Robotics Officer. Guillaume is also a long-term contributor to ROS (Robotic Operating Software), the open-source robotics software project.

Claire chatted to Sara Adela Abad Guaman from University College London about adaptable robots inspired by nature.

Sara Adela Abad Guaman is a Lecturer at University College London’s Mechanical Engineering Department. She is also the head of the Adaptable Robotics Lab. Inspired by biological organisms, Sara aims to develop robots and mechanical systems with enhanced adaptability to variable environmental conditions. Her vision is to use bioinspiration and morphological computation to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability.