Leading researchers were in Bristol for the UK’s largest robotics conference.
The TAROS 2018 (Towards Autonomous Robotics) brings together researchers from across the UK with speakers from Finland, Brazil and China on the latest technology.
One paper from the University of Plymouth described a one-legged robot that can hop around, built with 3D printed soft materials. Another paper from the University of York showed how swarms of small robots can operate autonomously using a control system based on the way human hormones work.
The conference, with over 120 attendees each day, saw keynote speeches from Alan Winfield, a professor of robot ethics at the University of the West of England and Silas Adekunle, CEO and co-founder of Bristol startup Reach Robotics. Kerstin Dautenhahn, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at University of Hertfordshire, spoke on robot-assisted therapy for children with autism, while Brian Scassellati, Professor of Computer Science, Cognitive Science, and Mechanical Engineering at Yale University in the US was speaking on robots that help users through social, rather than physical, interaction.
“TAROS is the perfect venue for the robotics community to come together and exchange ideas. Bristol is a wonderful innovative city that invites creative thinking and provides the perfect backdrop to create new ideas for robotics research and to find the right partners to realise these ideas,” said Dr Manuel Giuliani, Professor in Embedded Cognitive AI for Robotics at BRL and General Chair of TAROS 2018.
