"Robots - But not as we know them. "

We probably all have an image in our mind of what a robot looks like and what it can do. We’ll all have seen videos of robots doing some amazing things, but the reality is that the most widely used robot is still the industrial robot arm and the biggest user is the car industry. These robots have changed little in the last 40 years and are still heavy metallic machines that perform highly structured manufacturing tasks. However, things are changing, new material, actuators, sensing and control methods are changing the very nature of robot design and operation. This lecture will describe some of the robots we have developed at Salford and how they can look very different from traditional robots and behave in very different ways. These advanced robots will be shown operating in manufacturing, extreme environments and in healthcare. For example, we have developed a soft exoskeleton glove which could be used to help physiotherapists or reduce astronaut fatigue during space walks and we have developed gripper that is intelligent and able to grasp unknown objects.

Held virtually on Microsoft Teams Live at 1pm - please register to receive the Live event link. This will be emailed to you the day before the event.

About Professor Steve Davis

Professor Steve Davis obtained his PhD in Advanced Robotics from the University of Salford in 2005 and became a Team Leader at the Italian Institute of Technology in 2008, he is currently Chair in Advanced Robotics at the University of Salford (UK). His research interests include manufacturing, lightweight advanced actuators and artificial muscles, ‘soft’ robotics, human robot interaction, dexterous robot hands, biomimetics and biologically inspired robot systems and robotics in healthcare and rehabilitation. He has published extensively on ‘soft’ robotics, biomimetics, grippers and humanoid technologies as well as automation. He has guest edited journals and been on the programme committee for many IEEE conferences including ICRA and IROS and has attracted significant research funding both nationally and at a European level.