Leeds Robot takes runner up prize in "Best Technical Innovation" at International Robotics Challenge Event
A robot from the University of Leeds won this prize based on the technology developed in the EU funded STRANDS project for mobile robots that are able to run for months in dynamic human environments.
An event entitled "Robots for Resilient Infrastructure: An International Robotics Challenge Event" was held at Weetwood Hall, Leeds, June 27/8 2017. It brought together academics, industry, policy makers and stakeholders together to explore a future use of robots in the creation, inspection, repair and maintenance of critical infrastructure.
Application areas are across broad domains including civil infrastructure, transport (rail, road, sea), offshore energy, space, and nuclear. It included a competition track for entrants to demonstrated robots and technologies relevant to this Grand Challenge.
An entry submitted by the Universities of Leeds and Birmingham and demonstrated by LUCIE, a robot from the School of Computing and funded by the EU funded STRANDS project, took the runner up place in the "Best Technological Innovation" category.
The STRANDS project focused on creating intelligent mobile robots that are able to run for months in dynamic human environments. The research helped endow robots with the longevity and behavioural robustness necessary to make them truly useful assistants in a wide range of domains. Such long-lived robots are able to learn from a wider range of experiences than has previously been possible, creating a whole new generation of autonomous systems able to extract and exploit the structure in their worlds.
