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An academic research centre has been established to study the fields of engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics and psychology.
The Sheffield Centre for Robotics (SCentRo) has a core aim of making technological advances in the areas of assistive and mobile robotics. Assistive robots can potentially improve the lives of children and adults with special needs and help us in our homes, schools and hospitals. Mobile and field robots on the other hand could perform tasks such as search and rescue, mine clearance, farming, traffic control and even space exploration.
SCentRo, which pools the expertise of the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, will look to develop robots with flexible, safe bodies and human-like sensory and learning capabilities. The robots will be developed to be capable of learning for themselves, through experience, so that they are able to work more closely with humans than existing factory robots.
Professor Tony Prescott from the University of Sheffield’s department of psychology, who will be directing SCentRo, said: “We don’t want robots to replace humans, but to perform complimentary functions by undertaking dirty or dangerous jobs, such as going into burning buildings, decommissioning nuclear power sites or tending crops.
“We hope that by uniting the different disciplines and expertise SCentRo will help drive robotic technology forward in a way that will be useful to people.”
Roger Moore of the University of Sheffield’s department of computer science added: “Robots generate speech at present but there’s still a lot of work to be done for them to understand what humans are saying. We want to take this communication further than robots simply responding from a script and will be looking to create friendly, useful robots.”
SCentRo has secured over £1m of annual funding from the European Union Framework Programme and the UK Research Councils, making it one of the most important locations for robotics research in the UK.
On Friday 2 September members of the public were invited to attend this year’s Towards Automatic Robotics Systems (TAROS) conference held at SCentRo. The exhibition showcased devices from the robotics industry and university laboratories. Devices on display included:
Shrewbot - A unique animal-like robot that can seek out and identify objects with its artificial whiskers. The technology will enable the robot to function in spaces where vision cannot be used.
Guardian - The firefighter assisting robot works in a large team of thirty with each robot communicating independently to each other and the firefighters. The robots distance themselves as beacons to ensure constant contact. The swarm gleans information from each of their routes to detect fires, human danger and obstacles which are then reported back to the firefighters.
Grail - A robotic arm designed for use in domestic and catering scenarios.
The Tactile Helmet - A super-sensing helmet which helps firefighters find their way in smoke-filled buildings. The helmet works by detecting walls and obstacles through an ultrasound sensor which converts the signal to a tactile stimulus such as a buzzing sound to alert the wearer that they are near a wall.