UK's biggest-ever robot research centre opens for business

UK's biggest-ever robot research centre opens for business
Bot or not

Two universities in Bristol have created a new laboratory dedicated to robotics, which is officially the biggest in the UK.

The research centre is dedicated to understanding how robots can shape our world in years to come – not in a scary Terminator way but working alongside humans, taking up the more mundane tasks.

The centre sounds like the ultimate playground for robo geeks. According to the BBC, there are a number of different types of scholars working in the facility, which should make for interesting robot concepts.

"As well as electrical engineers and mechanical engineers, which you'd expect, we've got microbiologists, neuroscientists, surgeons, even psychologists," said Prof Chris Melhuish, director of the Bristol Robotics Lab to the BBC.

Top of the 'bots

The facility is a partnership between Bristol University and the University of the West of England and is situated on UWE's Frenchay campus.

Speaking about the laboratory, government minister David Willetts, who officially opened the centre said: "Robotics has a whole host of everyday applications, from helping our ageing population to improving manufacturing processes.

"Bristol Robotics Laboratory will bring together the best expertise from industry and the academic community to spearhead Britain's efforts to be world leading in this fascinating and exciting area of science."

Via BBC

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.