UK Robotics can lead the world
UK Robotics can lead the world
2008-05-07Newsfeed
Britain’s robotics experts visited the House of Commons on Wednesday, 23 April to show MPs how the UK could become a world leader in ‘professional service robotics’.
Lifelike robotics hands, rat robots, socially aware robots and the prototype for the Mars Rover were all on display. Interviews and footage of the robots can now be seen on the film below.
High value ‘professional service robots’ used to assist surgical teams, conduct space exploration and environmental monitoring, service nuclear power stations, aid our children’s learning and maintain sewers, roads and pylons are all being produced.
In a special parliamentary reception organised by the Institute of Physics, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and Walking with Robots, 12 robots demonstrated the range of benefits that robotics research can deliver, while academics and business leaders highlighted the growing worldwide demand and the UK’s expertise in the intelligent robotics sector.
In one particular boom area, as our population ages, robots performing domestic, therapeutic or care tasks for the elderly will become increasingly important to the economy. Leading researchers of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) in the UK, from the University of Hertfordshire and teams at the University of the West of England demonstrated how they are paving the way for the next generation of these user-friendly companion robots.
Professor Noel Sharkey from the University of Sheffield said, “In the UK we are leaders in the development of robot systems but we currently lag behind the rest of the world in how we deploy robots in the work place. Japan and Italy lead with 1,820 and 1,630 robots respectively per 10,000 workers, but in the UK we are behind Germany, France and Spain with only 600
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