Dyson lab to develop next-gen robots
11 Feb 2014
A £5m collaboration between Imperial College London and Dyson is set to develop the next generation in “real world” robotics.
A team of researchers based at the new Dyson Robotics Laboratory at Imperial College London (ICL) have been tasked with advancing current robotic capabilities - effectively domesticating the technology.
If successful, these next-gen robots, which will consist of improved vision and better computer processing power, could progress robotics beyond controlled environments such as automotive assembly lines and into a range of more diverse roles - potentially around the home.
“The world could be moving towards a new era where robots for the house and business could be used to make our lives more efficient, cost effective and easier.
“However, in order to get there we need to develop technologies that free up robots from the factory floor so that they can be used more effectively in our homes,” said Professor Andrew Davison, director of the new centre.
The researchers are already developing affordable technology will enable robots to take visual information, recorded by on-board cameras, and process it in real-time to map in order to navigate their surroundings.
The team has reported that even low-cost video cameras and computers have been successfully used to model the world in 3D.
The next phase of the research is set to include the overall improvement of the modelling technology so that a robot could not only determine the shape and layout of a room, but also distinguish between different objects and determine their purpose.
Such advancements could be used so that a robot is capable of determining the difference between a pile of washing and a dirty set of plates - without accidentally bumping into a human or dropping cutlery.
