Robot Talk

Claire chatted to Mark Gray from Universal Robots about their lightweight robotic arms that work alongside humans.
Mark Gray has worked in automation for the last 30 years, first involved in machine vision and robotics and finally collaborative robots or cobots. As country manager, Mark was the first person to work for Universal Robots in the UK and has carried out projects with many research institutes such as the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), the National Robotarium, and Bristol Robotics Lab.
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Claire chatted to Razanne Abu-Aisheh from the University of Bristol about how people feel about interacting with robot swarms.
Razanne Abu-Aisheh is a Senior Research Associate in the Centre for Sociodigital Futures at the University of Bristol. Her work explores how people interact with robot swarms, with a focus on how collective robot behaviours influence human perception. In her current research, she collaborates with communities to imagine more inclusive and meaningful futures with robotics, working towards community-centred design. Her broader interests include bringing robot swarms into real-world settings and designing them with people in mind.
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Claire chatted to Amir Patel from University College London about designing robots with the agility and manoeuvrability of a cheetah.
Amir Patel is an Associate Professor of Robotics & AI in the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UCL). His research uses robotics methods—sensor fusion, computer vision, mechanical modelling, and optimal control—to understand and quantify animal locomotion, especially high-speed predators such as the cheetah, and to translate these insights into bio-inspired machines. Previously, he served on the faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, where he founded and directed the African Robotics Unit (ARU).
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Claire chatted to Christine Evers from the University of Southampton about helping robots understand the world around them through sound.
Christine Evers is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Director of the Centre for Robotics at the University of Southampton. Her research pushes the boundaries of machine listening, enabling robots to make sense of life in sound. Her current focus is embedding our understanding of the human auditory process into deep-learning audio architectures. This bio-inspired approach moves away from massive, internet-scale models toward compute-efficient and inherently interpretable systems - opening the door to a new generation of embodied auditory intelligence.
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Claire chatted to Stefano Mintchev from ETH Zürich about robots to explore and monitor the natural environment.
Stefano Mintchev is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Robotics at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. He has a Ph.D. in Bioinspired Robotics from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy, and conducted postdoctoral research at EPFL in Switzerland, focused on bioinspired design principles for versatile aerial robots. At ETH Zürich, Stefano leads a research group working at the intersection of robotics and environmental science, developing robust and scalable bioinspired robotic technologies for monitoring and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources.
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