Issued on behalf of the University of the West of England
Possibly the largest ever gathering of humans and robots will take place at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET); Savoy Place in London on Monday 23 October 2006. This unusual get together will launch ‘Walking with Robots’ a nation-wide programme involving eight UK universities all of whom have world class robotics researchers. Each researcher has to bring a friend, but it can’t be a human.
The programme’s purpose is to get people of all ages engaged with cutting edge robotics research. It’s being coordinated from Bristol UWE and led by Professor Alan Winfield. Three years funding has been awarded to the network by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Professor Noel Sharkey, EPSRC senior media fellow at the University of Sheffield and one of the roboticists at the core of the project explains:
‘Robots are coming thick and fast with robot domestics, gardeners, cooks, companions, lovers, taxis, factory workers, space explorers, soldiers, maybe police and certainly pets.
Public concern about these new metal “friends” is whipped up by science fiction, but what are the facts? Will these robots think? Will they have emotions? Will they be mentally superior to us? Could my boss be a robot? Will they take over the planet and write interesting sitcoms? The public need to be prepared for the revolution.’
Professor Owen Holland, from the University of Essex, is one of the researchers involved in the project. He said: ‘Although robotics has not yet progressed as fast and as far as the special effects you see in science fiction films, it is already clear that robots may one day play a big part in our lives. We believe it is important for the general public to know what is possible now, and what might be possible in the future. The best way of achieving this is for them to meet roboticists (and robots), to see and hear for themselves what we're working on, to ask questions (especially the ones we don't always ask ourselves) - and then to let us know what they think.’
Guests at the launch reception will include senior government representatives, funding council members, robotics experts, industry representatives, the media and of course a few robot friends, who will be allowed as much electricity as they can handle.
Ends
For more information please see www.walkingwithrobots.org.
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Walking with Robots Summary
| Network Members | ||
| Name | Partner Institution | Area Of Expertise |
| Ms Catherine Aldridge | At-Bristol | Public Engagement Expert and Director of the Science Learning Centres – South West |
| Dr Dave Barnes | University of Wales, Aberystwyth | Research focus: Technologies to increase autonomy in space robots |
| Professor Frank Burnet |
University of the West of England | The Science Communication Unit at UWE (Graphic Science) is one of the most innovative and original science communication teams in the UK, specialising in taking science directly to the public |
| Dr Karen Bultitude | ||
| Ms Claire Rocks | ||
| Mr Quentin Cooper | BBC | Public Engagement and Media Expert |
| Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn | University of Hertfordshire | Research focus: Possible roles of robots as companions for humans with particular needs |
| Dr Ashley Green | The Open University | Research focus: the use of robots as educational aids |
| Dr Tony Hirst | ||
| Professor Owen Holland | University of Essex | Research focus: emergent behaviour in swarms of robots and whether machines can be conscious. |
| Professor Phil Husbands | University of Sussex | Research focus: harnessing the processes of evolution as simulated by computers to develop artificial nervous systems |
| Dr Melanie Quin | ecsite-uk | Science Communication Expert and Executive Director of Ecsite-uk: The Science and Discovery Centre Network |
| Professor Noel Sharkey | The University of Sheffield | Research focus: development of robots that can learn (EPSRC Senior Media Fellow) |
| Professor Gurvinder Virk | University of Leeds | Research focus: robots that can explore hostile environments, like the craters of volcanoes |
| Dr Barbara Webb | The University of Edinburgh | Research focus: How to understand the behaviour of insects, like crickets, through robotics |
| Professor Alan Winfield | University of the West of England | Research focus: Swarm robotics, robots that generate their own power. How to give robots friendly and responsive expressions. |
Professor Owen Holland
Research focus: emergent behaviour in swarms of robots, and whether machines can
be conscious.
Owen Holland’s major current research interests are swarm intelligence, especially swarm robotics, machine consciousness, biomimetic robotics, and the history of cybernetics. Previous projects include the Slugbot (EPSRC), ant-based control of telecommunications networks (Hewlett-Packard), a flying flock of robot balloons (BAE Systems), a swarm of robots fitted with electronic noses (DARPA/ONR), and a team of mobile robots for sorting office automation (Royal Mail).
He is the leader of the EPSRC Adventure Fund project 'Machine consciousness through internal modelling", which has involved bulding an advanced humanoid robot called Cronos. Cronos has a human-like skeleton, with bones and movable joints, and his muscles, made from elastic cord, are also human-like. This gives him a very fluid and flexible way of moving that is very different from other robots.
University of West England
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