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Robot Talk Episode 115 – Robot dogs working in industry, with Benjamin Mottis

Claire chatted to Benjamin Mottis from ANYbotics about deploying their four-legged ANYmal robot in a variety of industries.Benjamin Mottis is a Robotics Engineer in charge of ANYmal Research at ANYbotics. After graduating in robotics from EPFL, he joined ANYbotics as a Field Engineer in 2023. He specializes in deploying ANYmal and training customers across all ANYbotics verticals (Oil & Gas, Nuclear, Metals, Chemicals, etc.). Since 2024, as the Global Research Community Manager, he has been

Robot Talk Episode 114 – Reducing waste with robotics, with Josie Gotz

Claire chatted to Josie Gotz from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about robotics for material recovery, reuse and recycling.Josie Gotz is a Senior Research Engineer in the Intelligent Robotics Team at the Manufacturing Technology Centre. She works as the technical lead on a variety of robotics and automation projects from research and development through to integration across a wide variety of manufacturing sectors. She specialises in creating innovative solutions for these industries, combi

Robot Talk Episode 113 – Soft robotic hands, with Kaspar Althoefer

Claire chatted to Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary University of London about soft robotic manipulators for healthcare and manufacturing.Kaspar Althoefer is Director of the Centre for Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). His research focuses on soft robotics, tactile perception, intelligent manipulation, and machine learning techniques for sensor signal interpretation. His research advancements have significant applications in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, re

Robot Talk Episode 112 – Getting creative with robotics, with Vali Lalioti

Claire chatted to Vali Lalioti from the University of the Arts London about how art, culture and robotics interact.Vali Lalioti is a pioneering designer, computer scientist and innovator. She has a PhD in Computer Science, an MRes in Design and an MBA, and extensive international leadership, research and innovation experience in Silicon Valley, Africa, China, Japan and Europe. Vali is passionate about how technology interacts with society and talks globally on women in tech, art and technology e

Robot Talk Episode 111 – Robots for climate action, with Patrick Meier

Claire chatted to Patrick Meier from the Climate Robotics Network about how robots can help scale action on climate change.Patrick Meier has 15+ years of leadership and field experience at the intersection of emerging tech, innovation, and social impact. He founded the Climate Robotics Network and currently leads the UK FCDO project on Robotics for Global Development in low- and middle-income countries. Previously, he served as Strategy Lead for Robotics at the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPF

Robot Talk Episode 110 – Designing ethical robots, with Catherine Menon

Claire chatted to Catherine Menon from the University of Hertfordshire about designing home assistance robots with ethics in mind.Catherine Menon is a principal lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. Her research explores the ethics and safety of autonomous systems, and she has a particular interest in the interaction between safety requirements, ethical imperatives and trust constraints in public-facing AI including assistive robots. She has previously worked as a safety-critical systems

Robot Talk Episode 109 – Building robots at home, with Dan Nicholson

Claire chatted to Dan Nicholson from Maker Forge about creating open source robotics projects you can do at home.Dan Nicholson is a seasoned Software Engineering Manager with over 20 years of experience as a software engineer and architect. Four years ago, he began exploring robotics as a hobby, which quickly evolved into a large-scale bipedal robotics project that has inspired a wide audience. After making the project open-source and 3D printable, Dan built a vibrant community around it, with o

Robot Talk Episode 108 – Giving robots the sense of touch, with Anuradha Ranasinghe

Claire chatted to Anuradha Ranasinghe from Liverpool Hope University about haptic (touch) sensors for wearable tech and robotics.Anuradha Ranasinghe earned her PhD in robotics from King’s College London in 2015, focusing on haptic-based human control in low-visibility conditions. She is now a senior lecturer in robotics at Liverpool Hope University, researching haptics, miniaturized sensors, and perception. Her work has received national and international media attention, including feature

Robot Talk Episode 107 – Animal-inspired robot movement, with Robert Siddall

Claire chatted to Robert Siddall from the University of Surrey about novel robot designs inspired by the way real animals move.Robert Siddall is an aerospace engineer with an enthusiasm for unconventional robotics. He is interested in understanding animal locomotion for the benefit of synthetic locomotion, particularly flight. Before becoming a Lecturer at the University of Surrey, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, where he studied the arboreal

Robot Talk Episode 106 – The future of intelligent systems, with Didem Gurdur Broo

Claire chatted to Didem Gurdur Broo from Uppsala University about how to shape the future of robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation.Didem Gurdur Broo is an Assistant Professor and Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information Technology at Uppsala University. She leads the Cyber-physical Systems Lab, directing research on intelligent systems like collaborative robots, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities. Didem is a computer scientist with a PhD in mechatronics, w

Robot Talk Episode 105 – Working with robots in industry, with Gianmarco Pisanelli 

Claire chatted to Gianmarco Pisanelli from the the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre about how to promote the safe and intuitive use of robots in manufacturing. Gianmarco Pisanelli specialises in early-stage technology readiness level (TRL) research, with a focus on collaborative workspaces, multi-robot systems, and robotic simulations. He possesses extensive experience in industrial robotics, including PLC programming and the development of intuitive robotic inter

Robot Talk Episode 104 – Robot swarms inspired by nature, with Kirstin Petersen

Claire chatted to Kirstin Petersen from Cornell University about how robots can work together to achieve complex behaviours. Kirstin Petersen is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University. Her lab, the Collective Embodied Intelligence Lab, is focused on design and coordination of robot collectives able to achieve complex behaviors beyond the reach of an individual, and corresponding studies on how social insects do so in nature.  Petersen

Robot Talk Episode 103 – Keenan Wyrobek

Claire chatted to Keenan Wyrobek from Zipline about drones for delivering life-saving medicine to remote locations. Keenan Wyrobek is co-founder and head of product and engineering at Zipline, the world’s first drone delivery service whose focus is delivering life-saving medicine to the most difficult to reach places on earth. Prior to Zipline, Keenan was a co-founder and director of the Personal Robotics Program at Willow Garage. He was involved in launching the Robot Operating System (ROS) a

Robot Talk Episode 102 – Isabella Fiorello

Claire chatted to Isabella Fiorello from the University of Freiburg about plant-inspired robots made from living materials. Isabella Fiorello is a Junior Group Leader and Principal Investigator of the Bioinspired Plant-hybrid Materials group at the University of Freiburg in Germany. She has a Master’s Degree in Industrial Biotechnology from the University of Turin in Italy and a PhD in Biorobotics from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy. Her research focusses on the development of biolo

Robot Talk Episode 101 – Christos Bergeles

Claire chatted to Christos Bergeles from King’s College London about micro-surgical robots to deliver therapies deep inside the body. Christos Bergeles received his PhD in Robotics from ETH Zurich in Switzerland in 2011. As a Professor at King’s College London, he directs the “Robotics and Vision in Medicine Lab” whose mission is to develop micro-surgical robots that deliver regenerative therapies deep inside the human body. He holds funding for the development of instrumentation that de

Robot Talk Episode 100 – Mini Rai

Claire chatted to Mini Rai from Orbit Rise about orbital and planetary robots. Mini Rai is the founding Director of Orbit Rise Ltd and an honorary Professor at the University of Lincoln. Previously, she was the Global Chair in Robotic Engineering at the University of Lincoln and an Associate Professor at the Surrey Space Centre. Mini has over 27 years of research and innovation experience in Space Engineering and Technology. With deep-rooted expertise in robotics, automation, control and syste

Robot Talk Episode 99 – Joe Wolfel

Claire chatted to Joe Wolfel from Terradepth about autonomous submersible robots for collecting ocean data. Joe Wolfel is the CEO and founder of Terradepth. He is passionate about helping people make better and faster decisions regarding what we do (and don’t do) in the ocean. Terradepth designs and builds ocean-going robots at scale, deploys them, and delivers data through an ocean data platform tailored for the maritime community. Prior to Terradepth, Joe has helped start a couple other comp

Robot Talk Episode 98 – Gabriella Pizzuto

Claire chatted to Gabriella Pizzuto from the University of Liverpool about intelligent robotic manipulators for laboratory automation. Gabriella Pizzuto is a Lecturer in Robotics and Chemistry Automation at the University of Liverpool. She is also a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and ECR Co-Chair on the EPSRC AI Hub in Chemistry. She has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Manchester, where she was also a Marie-Sklodowska Curie early stage researcher and a visiting

Online hands-on science communication training – sign up here!

On Friday 22 November, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society will be hosting an online science communication training session for robotics and AI researchers. The tutorial will introduce you to science communication and help you create your own story through hands-on activities. Date: 22 November 2024 Time: 10:00 – 13:00 EST (07:00 – 10:00 PST, 15:00 – 18:00 GMT, 16:00 – 19:00 CET) Location: Online – worldwide Registration Website Science communication is essential. It helps demystify robotics

Robot Talk Episode 97 – Pratap Tokekar

Claire chatted to Pratap Tokekar from the University of Maryland about how teams of robots with different capabilities can work together. Pratap Tokekar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies at the University of Maryland, and an Amazon Scholar. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the GRASP lab of University of Pennsylvania and later, an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech. He has a degree in Electronics and