A look at some of the cutting-edge technologies returning as part of the popular content zones that debuted at last year’s Robotics and Automation, which have returned to the NEC Birmingham for visitors to explore today and tomorrow on 19-20 March 2024.
This key industry event is co-located with the essential logistics exhibition IntraLogisteX once again – as well as the all-new Sustainable Supply Chain Exhibition!
Robot House / Stand 1050
The Robot House is a four-bedroom home near University of Hertfordshire’s College Lane campus in Hatfield. Its ground floor has been adapted into a unique research facility for human-robot interaction, which the institution will be recreating in-part at Robotics and Automation 2024. This innovative display will be equipped with the latest generation of robotics platforms, including state-of-the-art care robots for assisted living. Researchers use the Hatfield facility to explore new ways to make collaboration between robots and humans more effective and will be at the stand to answer any questions from attendees about the project. Following funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Robot House facility is now open to both external academic groups and industry for research, development and testing.
Commenting on the project’s involvement in Robotics and Automation 2024, Ginesh Velmurugan, research fellow, University of Hertfordshire, said: “This is a really interesting place to be. We come from a social robotics background and we see different domains and lots of industry robotics companies here. There’s a lot of opportunity to show how social robots play a role in the industry – this is an exciting place for that exchange of ideas.”
Liverpool John Moores University’s Spot the dog / Stand 1021
Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) became the first university in Europe to buy a Spot last year. This robot dog from Boston Dynamics has been fitted with a Trimble 3D laser scanner and is a remotely controlled scanning machine. Spot can be a valuable addition to construction sites from a health and safety perspective and a market for the benefits of automation in the face of labour shortages. Once more, the mobile inspection solution can remove humans from potentially dangerous environments. Fiona Borthwick, interim head of civil engineering and built environment at the university, said: “We’ve been excited about Spot for a very long time, so we’re pleased thatwe now have our robot dog up and running. It’s a great plus for our students that they will be familiar with this technology before they go full-time into the industry, and we look forward to further exploring Spot’s capabilities and options for different payloads.” Visitors to the show will get the chance to ask questions to the team on-site and see the range of Spot’s capabilities, in particular their benefits for a civil engineering or construction context.
Fiona Borthwick, head of construction and civil engineering at Liverpool John Moores University, expressed excitement to be at Robotics and Automation 2024. She added: “So far we have had a lot of interest in Spot the robot dog. People are interested in the technology and some actually thought it was fake based on what they’d seen on YouTube. To see it in practice gets everyone really excited, we have a console here and they are all very happy to have a go with Spot.”
Pipebots / Stand 1042
This year’s content zones will feature the headline-making Pipebots. This project, which is supported by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, aims to transform buried pipe infrastructure management through use of micro-robotics. These small machines are designed to work in underground pipe networks and dangerous sites. Some of the projects key ambitions include developing a new science of sensing for high fidelity in-pipe inspection. It likewise aims to integrate this new science with robotic, navigation and communication solutions to work autonomously in large buried infrastructure networks. In the coming years, the team hopes to advance this science from a laboratory prototype to field scales and engage actively with the end-user community throughout the project duration to address current technical challenges. A major part of the research process will involve co-creating the research with key UK stakeholders to ensure a rapid uptake of this technology and establishing a world-leading research Centre of Autonomous Sensing for Buried Infrastructure. Researchers behind the project will be showing off these little robots’ huge potential at Stand 1042.
Xiaoyu Sun, research associate, University of Bristol, spoke to Robotics & Automation Magazine about the opportunities that exhibiting at the show represents. He said: “It is really helpful to allow and encourage university groups to join more industry exhibitions. This helps us learn the requirements from industry and improve our design, from our university’s side it is pretty good to demonstrate [earlier stage] projects. I hope there will be more interactions between UK universities and industry, which will accelerate research and industry applications.”
