Robot Talk

Claire chatted to Vikas Enti from Reframe Systems about using robotics and automation to build climate-resilient, high-performance homes. Vikas Enti is the co-founder and CEO of Reframe Systems , a physical AI company rethinking how homes are built through automation and localized fabrication. He previously spent more than a decade at Amazon Robotics, where he helped scale advanced robotics system...

Claire chatted to Krystal Mattich from Brain Corp about trustworthy autonomous robots in public spaces. Krystal Mattich leads global data governance, system security, and privacy compliance for Brain Corp : the world's leading autonomy platform for commercial robotics. As Senior Director of Security, Privacy, and Risk, she is the architect of the privacy-first infrastructure that powers over 40,00...

Last month, I hosted a panel discussion on home assistant robots at the Festival of Tomorrow in Swindon. I was joined by Dr Patrick Holthaus , a Reader in Interactive Assistive Technology at the University of Hertfordshire, Dr Nicole Salomons , a Lecturer at Imperial College London, Dr Gerard Canal , a Lecturer in Autonomous Systems at King's College London, and Dr Carolina Fuentes Toro , a Lectur...

Claire chatted to Alan Winfield from the University of the West of England about developing new standards for ethics and transparency in robotics. Alan Winfield is Professor of Robot Ethics at the University of the West of England (UWE), Visiting Professor at the University of York, and Associate Fellow of the Cambridge Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Alan co-founded the Bristol Robotics La...

Claire chatted to Maria Guix from the University of Barcelona about combining electronics and biology to create robots that are more than the sum of their parts. Maria Guix is a chemist and nanotechnology researcher in the University of Barcelona's ChemInFlow lab, developing miniaturized living robots and integrating flexible sensors into microfluidic platforms to better understand biohybrid robot...

Claire chatted to Jamie Palmer from Icarus Robotics about building a robotic labour force to perform routine and risky tasks in orbit. Jamie Palmer is co-founder and CTO of Icarus Robotics . He earned a Master's in Robotics from Columbia University on a full scholarship, researching intelligent, dexterous manipulation in the ROAM lab. Jamie developed and deployed autonomous hospital robots during...

Claire chatted to Agata Suwala from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about leveraging robotics to make manufacturing systems more sustainable. Agata Suwala is a Technology Manager at the Manufacturing Technology Centre , where she leads cutting-edge work in automation and robotics. With over a decade of experience in R&D, Agata specialises in developing and implementing advanced manufacturing s...

Claire chatted to Samuele Vinanzi from Sheffield Hallam University about how robots can tell whether to trust or distrust people. Samuele Vinanzi is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Sheffield Hallam University. He specializes in Cognitive Robotics: an interdisciplinary field that integrates robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and psychology to create r...

Claire chatted to Elmira Yadollahi from Lancaster University about how children interact with and relate to robots. Elmira Yadollahi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Lancaster University. She has a joint PhD in robotics and computer science from EPFL in Switzerland and Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal. Her research tackles explainability in robotics, as well as multimodal per...

Claire chatted to Mark Gray from Universal Robots about their lightweight robotic arms that work alongside humans. Mark Gray has worked in automation for the last 30 years, first involved in machine vision and robotics and finally collaborative robots or cobots. As country manager, Mark was the first person to work for Universal Robots in the UK and has carried out projects with many research inst...

Claire chatted to Razanne Abu-Aisheh from the University of Bristol about how people feel about interacting with robot swarms. Razanne Abu-Aisheh is a Senior Research Associate in the Centre for Sociodigital Futures at the University of Bristol. Her work explores how people interact with robot swarms, with a focus on how collective robot behaviours influence human perception. In her current resear...

Claire chatted to Amir Patel from University College London about designing robots with the agility and manoeuvrability of a cheetah. Amir Patel is an Associate Professor of Robotics & AI in the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UCL). His research uses robotics methods—sensor fusion, computer vision, mechanical modelling, and optimal control—to understand and quantify an...

Claire chatted to Christine Evers from the University of Southampton about helping robots understand the world around them through sound. Christine Evers is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Director of the Centre for Robotics at the University of Southampton. Her research pushes the boundaries of machine listening, enabling robots to make sense of life in sound. Her current focus is...

Claire chatted to Stefano Mintchev from ETH Zürich about robots to explore and monitor the natural environment. Stefano Mintchev is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Robotics at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. He has a Ph. D. in Bioinspired Robotics from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy, and conducted postdoctoral research at EPFL in Switzerland, focused on bioinspired design principles for ve...

Claire chatted to Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi from Ohio Northern University about bipedal robots that can walk and even climb stairs. Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi (Wami) is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Ohio Northern University. Her research focuses on controls with applications in bipedal locomotion and engineering education. She is the first Black woman to receive a PhD...

Claire chatted to Shimon Whiteson from the University of Oxford and Waymo about machine learning for autonomous vehicles. Shimon Whiteson is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a Senior Staff Research Scientist at Waymo UK. His research focuses on deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, with applications in robotics and video games. He completed his doctorat...

Claire chatted to Chapa Sirithunge from the University of Cambridge about what robots can teach us about human anatomy, and vice versa. Chapa Sirithunge is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow in robotics at the University of Cambridge. She has an undergraduate degree and PhD  in Electrical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa. Before joining the University of Cambridge in 2022, she was a lectur...

Claire chatted to Kevin McAleer from kevsrobots about how to get started building robots at home. Kevin McAleer is a hobbyist robotics fanatic who likes to build robots, share videos about them on YouTube and teach people how to do the same. Kev has been building robots since 2019, when he got his first 3d printer and wanted to make more interesting builds. Kev has a degree in Computer Science, an...

Claire chatted to Heather Knight from Oregon State University about applying methods from the performing arts to robotics. Heather Knight runs the CHARISMA Robotics research group. Her education includes a PhD on  Expressive Motion for Low Degree of Freedom Robots  from Carnegie Mellon University, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in EECS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has worked at N...

Claire chatted to Anthony Jules from Robust. AI about their AI-driven autonomous robots that work alongside humans. Anthony Jules is the CEO and co-founder of Robust. AI , a leader in AI-driven warehouse automation. The company's flagship product Carter™, is built to work with people in their existing environments, without disrupting their workflows. Anthony has a career spanning over 30 years at...

Claire chatted to Edith-Clare Hall from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) about accelerating scientific and technological breakthroughs. Edith-Clare Hall is a PhD student at the University of Bristol, Frontier Specialist at ARIA, and leader of Women in Robotics UK. She focuses on the critical interfaces where interconnected systems meet, working to close the gap between academic rese...

Claire chatted to Chad Jenkins from the University of Michigan about how robots can learn from people and assist us in our daily lives. Odest Chadwicke Jenkins is a Professor of Robotics and a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. His research addresses problems in robot learning from demonstration and human-robot interaction, primarily focused on...

Claire chatted to Yuen Ting Chan from the Natural History Museum about using robots to automate molecular biology experiments. Yuen Ting Chan has nearly 20 years of experience working on translating, developing and optimising laboratory protocols, from DNA forensics to the biomedical field. She has brought automation to molecular laboratories for over 12 years, translating the laboratory protocols...

Last month I had the pleasure of attending the Smart City Robotics Competition in Milton Keynes, where I spoke to the organisers, competitors, exhibitors and attendees of this exciting 3-day event. Check out our conversations in this month's bonus episode! This bonus episode was sponsored by euRobotics,  an international non-profit association that aims to boost European robotics research, develop...

Claire chatted to Ali K. Hoshiar from the University of Essex about how microrobots move and work together. Ali Hoshiar is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Essex and Director of the Robotics for Under Millimetre Innovation (RUMI) Lab. He leads the EPSRC-funded 'In-Target' project and was awarded the university's Best Interdisciplinary Research Award. His research focuses on micro...