Edinburgh Centre for Robotics academic Mauro Dragone spoke at ScotSoft 2016 on the 8th October 2016 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
http://www.scotlandis.com/scotsoft/programme/
Dr. Dragone illustrated the potential of building an Internet of Robotic Things, and discussed the artificial intelligence and software engineering issues associated with its realisation.
This year, the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics took part in a number of events at the Edinburgh International Festival (26th March - 10th April). Below, we detail our activities during these past few weeks.
James Garforth, Edinburgh Centre for Robotics student, organised the events Robot Lab and Technologies of the Future, Today. Robot Lab ran from 26th to the 30th March in the National Museum of Scotland and consisted of a series demos that showcased the research carried out at the Centre by current students. Technologies of the Future, Today took place on 30th March in Summerhall. Carson Vogt, Iris Kyranou, Agamemnon Krasoulis, Sandy Enoch and Wolfgang Merkt gave talks about robots and showed some demos.
Edinburgh Centre for Robotics Director, Prof Sethu Vijayakumar, is one of the three judges for the 2016 BBC Robot Wars alongside:
Last Wednesday 24th February, Professor Sethu Vijayakumar and PhD students, Alexander Enoch (Edinburgh) and Iris Kyranou (Heriot Watt) were live on BBC micro:bit Live Lesson at 11-11.45am . Professor Sethu Vijayakumar gave an insight of the Valkyrie robot that arrived in Edinburgh last Monday 29th February 2016. Alexander Enoch and Iris Kyranou demoed some of the robots that are part of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics Robotarium East, such as the prosthetic hand.
Will robots take over our jobs in the near future? Will the rise of robots lead to a decrease in human cognitive abilities? These are some of the questions the audience asked at the public debate “How Will Robotics Reshape Our Lives in the Next Two Decades”, an event co-organised by the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics and the British Science Association last Thursday 4th February 2016 at the Informatics Forum, University of Edinburgh.
Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, Edinburgh Centre for Robotics Director and Professor of Robotics at the University of Edinburgh, has been awarded the 2015 Tam Dalyell Prize for Excellence in Engaging the Public with Science by the Principal of the University, Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea. The prize recognises an individual or group's work in science outreach including onsite engagement, talks and other public events or through publishing and broadcasting.
The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics featured strongly in the Heriot-Watt University showcase of Laser-based Manufacturing, Marine Science and Robotics at the Scottish Government reception celebrating ‘Scotland's Science - Past, Present and Future’. The event was held on Tuesday 8th December at Our Dynamic Earth and was hosted by Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, Minister for Science, Learning and Scotland’s Languages; the guests included the Principal, Professor Richard A. Williams.
Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, who holds a RAEng - Microsoft Research Chair in Robotics and is the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics director at the University of Edinburgh, delivered the first lecture in the University’s Our Changing World series for 2015 on Tuesday 29th September 2015.
Two Heriot-Watt researchers, Amol Deshmukh and Dr. Srini Janarthanam from the department of Computer Science, recently took two robots into Beeslack Community High School in Penicuik. The researchers, led by Professor Ruth Aylett and Dr Helen Hastie, are part of a large European project EMOTE (www.emote-project.eu), which also has partners in Sweden, Germany and Portugal. The team have been creating a learning environment that includes a socially aware robotic tutor and a large touch table.