Robot Talk

Claire chatted to Stephen Oram from Nudge the Future Fiction all about applied science fiction and the quirks and perils of new technology.

Stephen Oram writes near-future science fiction, exploring the intersection of messy humans and imperfect technology. He also works with scientists and technologists on projects that explore possible future outcomes of their research through short stories. He is published in several anthologies, including the Best of British Science Fiction 2020 and 2022, and has two published novels and three collections of sci-fi shorts. His recent collection – Extracting Humanity – includes stories from the projects with scientists.

Robot Talk will be taking a break next week, but we'll be back in April with more interesting guests and cool robots.

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Claire chatted to Patricia Shaw from Aberystwyth University 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.

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For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads or Mastodon

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Andrew Starr from Cranfield University all about robot maintenance and railway inspection robots.

Andrew Starr holds a PhD in condition monitoring of robotic production systems and is a Chartered Engineer. His career started with British Aerospace, before working for the University of Manchester, University of Huddersfield, and the University of Hertfordshire. At Cranfield University he is Professor of Maintenance Systems, and former Head of the Centre for Life-cycle Engineering and Management. His research is in monitoring of mechanical systems with special interests in railways, aero gears, sensor systems, and maintenance optimisation through data fusion.

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For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads or Mastodon

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Antonia Tzemanaki from the University of Bristol all about hand exoskeletons, robotic hands, and teleoperation.

Antonia Tzemanaki is Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Bristol and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Prior to this, she was Lecturer in Mechatronics at the University of the West of England. Her research includes human and robot hands, hand exoskeletons, haptics and wearable robotics, especially with applications in surgery, preventative medicine, rehabilitation, physiotherapy and dexterous tele-operation, as well as extreme environments (nuclear and space).

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For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads or Mastodon

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Edward Johns from Imperial College London, all about robotic manipulators, learning, and artificial intelligence.

Edward Johns is the Director of the Robot Learning Lab at Imperial College London, where he is also a Senior Lecturer. He completed a PhD in Computer Vision at Imperial College and was then a Research Fellow in the Dyson Robotics Lab at Imperial College. In 2017, he was awarded a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. Since founding the Robot Learning Lab in 2018, he and his team have been developing efficient methods for robots to learn new skills for physically interacting with objects, with a particular emphasis on everyday tasks.

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For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads or Mastodon

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Maria Jose (Marisé) Galvez Trigo from Cardiff University all about human-robot interaction, machine learning, and accessibility.

Maria Jose Galvez Trigo (Marisé) is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Informatics at Cardiff University, and part of the Human-centred Computing (HCC) Research Section and its Subgroup in Computational and Human-centred Robotics. Marisé is interested in Robotics, Human-Robot Interaction, Human-Computer Interaction and applications of Machine Learning in those areas, with accessibility and co-design as key aspects of her research. Within those areas, her research explores how the uptake of robotics systems can be improved.

Win a Robot Talk T-shirt

For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads or Mastodon

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Rafael Lopez from Robotnik Automation all about mobile robots, logistics, and inspection.

Rafael Lopez has a degree in Telecommunications Engineering. He worked in research and development at Althea Productos Industriales before joining IBM as a System Engineer for wide area networks in Madrid and Barcelona. He co-founded Robotnik in 2002, where he was the Research and Development Manager, participating in and managing many EU projects. After the acquisition of Robotnik by United Robotics Group in 2023, he became Managing Director of the company. In 2017 he joined the board of Directors of the Spanish robotics technology platform Hisparob.

Win a Robot Talk T-shirt

For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads or Mastodon

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Virginia Ruiz Garate from Mondragon University all about assistive robotics, mobility, and bio-inspired control.

Virginia Ruiz Garate obtained her PhD in 2016 in bio-inspired control for leg exoskeletons at the Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium. Later, she worked on new bio-inspired grasping methods for robotic hands at the Italian Institute of Technology. She then became Associate Professor in assistive robots at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Currently, she is a Lecturer and Researcher in Robotics at Mondragon University. Her research interests include robotic grasping and manipulation, bio-inspired control, assistive robotics and human-robot interfaces.

Win a Robot Talk T-shirt

For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mastodon, BlueSky or Threads.

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Josh Caputo from Humotech all about robotic prostheses, exoskeletons and prototyping.

Josh Caputo has a background as a multi-disciplinary engineer focused on robotics. He developed a passion for wearable technology working in the Experimental Biomechatronics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. His early work focused on studying powered push-off in prosthetic foot and ankle devices. In 2015, Josh founded Humotech to support clinical trials, commercialization and research and development efforts in wearable robotics. Josh's dream is to see the field expand dramatically in size and innovativeness so that anyone, anywhere can realize their mobility goals.

Win a Robot Talk T-shirt

For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mastodon, BlueSky or Threads.

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.

Claire chatted to Elizabeth Sklar from the University of Lincoln all about agricultural robotics, human-robot teams, and sustainability.

Elizabeth Sklar is a Professor of Agri-Robotics and Research Director at the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology (LIAT), at the University of Lincoln, UK. Her research investigates the implementation of intelligent methodologies in the context of multi-robot teams, human-machine teaming, behaviour mining and data-backed decision making, most recently applied within the agri-food pipeline. She is co-founder of the international educational initiative RoboCupJunior and currently serves on the editorial board for the journal Current Robotics Reports.

Win a Robot Talk T-shirt

For a chance to win your very own organic cotton Robot Talk t-shirt, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up to our newsletter
2. Share our competition post on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mastodon, BlueSky or Threads.

You can enter across multiple platforms. One lucky winner will be randomly selected each month!

Find out more: https://www.robottalk.org/t-shirt-competition/.