Robot Talk

Since the first robot-assisted surgery was performed, over 40 years ago, major advances in robotics, computer vision and artificial intelligence have fundamentally changed medicine and healthcare. Innovative new technologies are already aiding skilled medical professionals in diagnosis, surgery, rehabilitation and beyond. But many questions remain: What ethical issues arise as medical tools become...

Claire chatted to Allison Okamura from Stanford University about developing advanced robotic systems for haptic (touch) interaction. Allison Okamura is the Richard W. Weiland Professor of Engineering at Stanford University. Her academic interests include haptics, teleoperation, virtual reality, medical robotics, soft robotics, rehabilitation, and education. Allison is Director of Graduate Studies...

Claire chatted to Edward Mehr from Machina Labs about their RoboCraftsman that shapes complex metal parts for the aerospace, defence, and automotive industries. Edward Mehr is an entrepreneur and engineer specializing in advanced manufacturing, robotics, and artificial intelligence. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Machina Labs , he leads efforts to integrate AI-driven robotics into flexible, on-deman...

Maria Koskinopoulou is an Assistant Professor in Robotics and Computer Vision at Heriot-Watt University. She co-leads the ARM²Lab – Autonomous Robotic Manipulation & Multi-Agent Systems Lab at Heriot-Watt and the National Robotarium, alongside Ignacio Carlucho. Her research interests include robotic manipulation, perception, robot vision, medical robotics, human-robot interaction, and machine lear...

This bonus episode features interviews from academic and industry experts at this year's European Robotics Forum in Stavanger, Norway. On the second day of the conference, I attended a workshop on ' 6G Empowering Future Multipurpose Robotics ', which explored opportunities, technical challenges, and requirements for connectivity in robotics. This bonus episode was produced in collaboration with  e...

This bonus episode features interviews from academic and industry experts at this year's European Robotics Forum in Stavanger, Norway. The first workshop I attended at ERF 2026 was on ' Robotics for Strategic Reindustrialisation ', which focussed how to strengthen the resilience of Europe's manufacturing supply chains, including those for robotics hardware and software. This bonus episode was prod...

Claire chatted to Ahti Heinla from Starship Technologies about their AI-powered delivery robots that operate independently on streets and sidewalks. Ahti Heinla is the co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies , the world's leading autonomous delivery company building AI-powered robots that operate fully independently in real-world environments. One of the original engineers behind Skype's billi...

Claire chatted to Josie Hughes from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) about using generative AI to develop new designs for robotic manipulators. Josie Hughes is an Assistant Professor at EPFL, where she established the CREATE Lab in 2021. She completed her PhD in the Bio-inspired Robotics Lab at the University of Cambridge, examining the role of passivity in bio-inspired manipulators...

Claire chatted to Gavin Kenneally from Ghost Robotics about robot dogs for defence, security, and public safety. Gavin Kenneally is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ghost Robotics , a company that has gained a reputation for pushing the boundaries of legged robotics technology. In his current role, Gavin spearheads a team of highly skilled engineers and researchers who share his passion for creating adva...

Claire chatted to Melissa Greeff from Queen's University about autonomous navigation and learning for drones. Melissa Greeff is an Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen's University. She leads Robora Lab and is also an Ingenuity Labs Robotics and AI Institute member. Her research interests include aerial robots, vision-based navigation, and safe learning-based control...

Claire chatted to Andrew Philippides from the University of Sussex about what we can learn from ants and bees to improve robot navigation. Andrew Philippides is a Professor of Biorobotics at the University of Sussex, where he co-directs the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics and the be. AI Leverhulme Doctoral centre for Biomimetic Embodied AI. His research combines biological exper...

Claire chatted to Chenying Liu from the University of Oxford about how a robot's physical form can actively contribute to sensing, processing, decision-making, and movement. Chenying Liu is a Junior Research Fellow and an Associate Member of Faculty in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. She leads an independent research programme focused on embodied physical intelli...

Claire chatted to Rich Walker from Shadow Robot Company about their advanced robotic hands for research and industry. Rich Walker has been at Shadow Robot since long before it was a company, working initially on software and systems engineering before "jumping the fence" into management. He led Shadow Robot's engagement with a number of R&D initiatives in UK and across Europe, as well as developin...

Claire chatted to Simona Aracri from the National Research Council of Italy about innovative robot designs for oceanography and environmental monitoring. Simona Aracri is a researcher in the Institute of Marine Engineering at the National Research Council of Italy. Previously, she was a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Edinburgh, working on the award winning project ORCA Hub a...

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...