Page 12 - Doing Data Together by The Scotsman

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Helping hands in a crisis
David Lee hears about the search for advances in robotics that could make our lives safer and easier in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic
Has Covid-19 started
to change our attitude to robots and artificial intelligence? Researchers at
Heriot-Watt University think so and are working on cutting-edge techniques to ensure a safer world for us all, with the robots doing more of the dirty and dangerous jobs.
Professor Helen Hastie, director of the EPSRC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics
and Autonomous Systems, says: “At Heriot-Watt, we have been working on getting robots to go into hazardous places where people can’t or don’t want to go, such as offshore or deep underwater.
“During the current crisis, a general awareness of the utility of robots has grown, and people can see where robots might be useful in cases when human interventions are now discouraged. This can
be in particular ‘hot-zones’ that need to be avoided by people, such as homes of those shielding, and hospitals.”
One example of Heriot-Watt’s ambition is the SPRING project, where robots are designed to
HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY
www.hw.ac.uk/nationalrobotarium www.hw.ac.uk/economicrecovery Twitter: @HeriotWattUni @NRobotarium
reduce stress and loneliness and improve sociability among elderly people in health or care settings, and the development of a “living lab”, which seeks to tackle the major challenges of providing effective care for vulnerable people (see panels, right).
This research takes place in
a partnership between Heriot- Watt and Edinburgh universities, known as the Edinburgh Centre of Robotics (ECR), and this is the foundation of the new National Robotarium.
This multi-million-pound, purpose-built centre of excellence in UK robotics, is being developed on the outskirts of Edinburgh, on the Heriot-Watt campus, as part of the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.
Opening in 2022, the National Robotarium is a test bed to translate world-leading research
Main, robots can be designed to handle many
of the world’s more dangerous and unpleasant work. Inset,
an artist’s impression of The National Robotarium building. Right, Professor Helen Hastie
and development around interaction between humans, robots and their environments into technology, innovation and sustainable economic and societal benefits.
The new building will be open to industry, visiting researchers and the public, who will be able to interact with a wide range of world-class robots.
Offering state-of-the-art rapid prototyping facilities, living
labs and more, The National Robotarium will provide
flexible opportunities to develop technology and ultimately to deliver robots to the marketplace.
“Scotland is increasingly the place to come for great young minds in robotics” says Hastie.
The Centre for Doctoral Training is attracting this fresh talent. It is now into its sixth cohort, with over
130 funded places for students working on robotics and AI until 2028. Ten industry partners already provide support, with the centre advisory group also including private sector representatives from Honda and Dyson.
This model of wide-ranging private sector involvement
is crucial to the National Robotarium’s goal of delivering economic benefits from robotics to the Edinburgh city region.
“Beyond core robotics training, students have access to a fund to seed innovative ideas to create businesses,” says Hastie.
“We want students to be innovation-ready, to come up with great ideas to launch businesses and add value in the Edinburgh city region, and for their projects to spawn joint working with industry.”
In the Offshore Robotics for Certification of Assets Hub (ORCA), the ECR and National Robotarium teams are leading collaborations with 30 private firms and other universities. They are developing autonomous and semi-autonomous smart machines that can inspect and repair offshore
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During the current crisis, a general awareness of the utility of robots has grown, and people can see where robots might be useful in cases when human interventions are now discouraged