Robot Talk
103 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago -Join us each week as we explore the exciting world of robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous machines. Each episode, Dr Claire Asher — science communicator and robot enthusiast — chats with robotics scientists from across the UK to find out how their cutting-edge research is influencing the future of every aspect of science, technology, and engineering, from the mundane to the extraordinary.
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Episodes
Episode Forty: Edward Timpson
March 10, 2023 12:00 - 32 minutes - 44 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Edward Timpson from QinetiQ all about robots in the military, uncrewed vehicles, and cyber security. Ed Timpson joined QinetiQ in 2020 after 11 years serving in the Royal Navy as a Weapons Engineering Officer (Submarines) across a number of ranks. Joining QinetiQ Target Systems as a Project Engineer and also managing the Hardware team, he had success in developing new capabilities for the Banshee family of UAS. He then moved into future systems within QinetiQ a...
Episode Thirty-Nine: Maria Bauza Villalonga
March 03, 2023 12:00 - 20 minutes - 28.5 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Maria Bauza Villalonga from DeepMind all about robot learning, transferable skills, and general AI. Maria Bauza Villalonga is research scientist at DeepMind. In 2022, she earned her PhD in Robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with Prof. Alberto Rodriguez. Her research focuses on achieving precise robotic generalization by learning probabilistic models of the world that allow robots to reuse their skills across multiple tasks with high...
Episode Thirty-Eight: Jonathan Aitken
February 24, 2023 12:00 - 37 minutes - 51.6 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Jonathan Aitken from the University of Sheffield all about manufacturing, sewer inspection, and robots in the real world. Jonathan Aitken is a Senior University Teacher in Robotics at the University of Sheffield. His research is focused on building useful, useable, and expandable architectures for future robotics systems. Most recently this has involved building complex digital twins for collaborative robots in manufacturing processes and investigating localisa...
Episode Thirty-Seven: Yang Gao
February 17, 2023 12:00 - 25 minutes - 35.7 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Yang Gao from the University of Surrey all about space robotics and planetary exploration. Yang Gao is Professor of Space Autonomous Systems and Founding Head of the STAR LAB that specializes in robotic sensing, perception, visual guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) and biomimetic mechanisms for industrial applications in extreme environments. She brings over 20 years of research experience in developing robotics and autonomous systems, in which she has bee...
Episode Thirty-Six: Ignazio Maria Viola
February 10, 2023 12:00 - 18 minutes - 25.7 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Ignazio Maria Viola from the University of Edinburgh all about aerodynamics, dandelion-inspired drones, and swarm sensing. Ignazio Maria Viola is Professor of Fluid Mechanics and Bioinspired Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He is the recipient of the ERC Consolidator Grant Dandidrone to explore the unsteady aerodynamics of dandelion-inspired drones.
Episode Thirty-Five: Emily S. Cross
February 03, 2023 12:00 - 25 minutes - 35.4 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Emily S. Cross from the University of Glasgow and Western Sydney University all about neuroscience, social learning, and human-robot interaction. Emily S. Cross is a Professor of Social Robotics at the University of Glasgow, and a Professor of Human Neuroscience at the MARCS Institute at Western Sydney University. Using interactive learning tasks, brain scanning, and dance, acrobatics and robots, she and her Social Brain in Action Laboratory team explore how we ...
Episode Thirty-Four: Sabine Hauert
January 27, 2023 12:00 - 31 minutes - 43.2 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Sabine Hauert from the University of Bristol all about swarm robotics, nanorobots, and environmental monitoring. Sabine Hauert is Associate Professor of Swarm Engineering at University of Bristol. She leads a team of 20 researchers working on making swarms for people, and across scales, from nanorobots for cancer treatment, to larger robots for environmental monitoring, or logistics. Previously she worked at MIT and EPFL. She is President and Executive Trustee o...
Episode Thirty-Three: Dan Stoyanov
January 20, 2023 12:00 - 25 minutes - 35.3 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Dan Stoyanov from University College London all about robotic vision, surgical robotics, and artificial intelligence. Dan Stoyanov, FREng, FIET, is a Professor at UCL Computer Science holding a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. He is Director of the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS), a large research centre combining engineering and clinical expertise. His research interests are focused on surgical ...
Episode Thirty-Two: Mollie Claypool
January 13, 2023 12:00 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Mollie Claypool from Automated Architecture all about robot house-building, zero-carbon architecture, and community participation. Mollie Claypool is CEO of AUAR Ltd, a tech company revolutionising house building using automation. Mollie is a leading architecture theorist focused on issues of social justice highlighted by increasing automation in architecture and design production. She is also Associate Professor in Architecture at The Bartlett School of Archite...
Episode Thirty-One: Chris Atkeson
January 06, 2023 12:00 - 36 minutes - 49.6 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Chris Atkeson from Carnegie Mellon University all about humanoid robots, human-aware environments and the future of AI and robotics. Chris Atkeson is a professor in the Robotics Institute and Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on developing humanoid and super-human robots. His work inspired aspects of the design of the character Baymax (an inflatable robot that takes care of people) in the Disney movie Big He...
Bonus: A day in the life
December 23, 2022 17:00 - 14 minutes - 19.9 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In this clip, UK roboticists describe their daily lives working in robotics.
Bonus: Could you be friends with a robot?
December 22, 2022 17:00 - 10 minutes - 14.1 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In this clip, UK roboticists share their thoughts on becoming friends with robots.
Bonus: What is your favourite machine or tool?
December 21, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutes - 11.7 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In this clip, we hear from UK roboticists about their favourite machine or tool in the lab.
Bonus: What is your advice for a robotics career?
December 20, 2022 17:00 - 12 minutes - 17 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In this clip, UK roboticists share their advice for getting started in a career in robotics.
Bonus: What is your favourite fictional robot?
December 19, 2022 17:00 - 6 minutes - 9.38 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In the first clip, we hear from UK roboticists about their favourite fictional robots.
Episode Thirty: Ana Cavalcanti
December 16, 2022 12:00 - 24 minutes - 34.1 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Ana Cavalcanti from the University of York all about software development, testing and verification, and autonomous mobile robots. This is our last episode before we take a little break for the holiday season. Robot Talk will be back in the New Year on the 6th January. Ana Cavalcanti is a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. She is the leader of the RoboStar Centre of Excellence on Software Engineering for Robotics. The RoboStar approac...
Episode Twenty-Nine: Sina Sareh
December 09, 2022 12:00 - 16 minutes - 22.8 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Sina Sareh from the Royal College of Art all about industrial inspection, soft robotics, and robotic grippers. Sina Sareh is the Academic Leader in Robotics at Royal College of Art. He is currently a Reader (Associate Professor) in Robotics and Design Intelligence at RCA, and a Fellow of EPSRC, whose research develops technological solutions to problems of human safety, access, and performance involved in a range of industrial operations. Dr Sareh holds a PhD fr...
Episode Twenty-Eight: Amanda Prorok
December 02, 2022 12:00 - 21 minutes - 29.7 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Amanda Prorok from the University of Cambridge all about self-driving cars, industrial robots, and multi-robot systems. Our t-shirt competition has now ended - congratulations to our five lucky winners! Amanda Prorok is Professor of Collective Intelligence and Robotics in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of Pembroke College. She is interested in finding practical methods for hard coordination problems that...
Episode Twenty-Seven: Simon Wanstall
November 25, 2022 12:00 - 20 minutes - 28.8 MBThis week, Claire talked to Simon Wanstall from the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics all about soft robotics, robotic prostheses and taking inspiration from nature. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! To enter, either share the latest episode on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics or on LinkedIn and tag the EPSRC UK-RAS Network. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of November to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve...
Episode Twenty-Six: Séverin Lemaignan
November 18, 2022 12:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Séverin Lemaignan from PAL Robotics all about social robots, behaviour, and robot-assisted human-human interactions. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! To enter, either share the latest episode on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics or on LinkedIn and tag the EPSRC UK-RAS Network. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of November to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve got a unisex ve...
Episode Twenty-Five: Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena
November 11, 2022 12:00 - 24 minutes - 33.4 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena from Imperial College London about medical robotics, robotic surgery, and translational research. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! To enter, either share the latest episode on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics or on LinkedIn and tag the EPSRC UK-RAS Network. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of November to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve got a...
Episode Twenty-Four: Gopal Ramchurn
November 04, 2022 12:00 - 19 minutes - 27.4 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Gopal Ramchurn from the University of Southampton about artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and renewable energy. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! To enter, either share the latest episode on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics or on LinkedIn and tag the EPSRC UK-RAS Network. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of November to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve got a uni...
Episode Twenty-Three: Mickey Li
October 28, 2022 11:00 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBThis week, Claire talked to Mickey Li from the University of Bristol about aerial robotics, building inspection and multi-robot teams. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! To enter, either share the latest episode on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics or on LinkedIn and tag the EPSRC UK-RAS Network. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of November to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve got a unisex version and a...
Episode Twenty-Two: Iveta Eimontaite
October 21, 2022 11:00 - 20 minutes - 28.6 MBThis week, Claire talked to Dr Iveta Eimontaite from Cranfield University all about psychology, human-robot interaction, and industrial robots. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! We've expanded and extended the competition and there are now two ways to enter - share the latest episode on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics or on LinkedIn and tag the EPSRC UK-RAS Network. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the en...
Episode Twenty-One: Sean Katagiri
October 14, 2022 11:03 - 14 minutes - 19.3 MBThis week, Claire chatted to Sean Katagiri from The National Robotarium all about underwater robots, offshore energy, and other industrial applications of robotics. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! For a chance to win, all you have to do is share the latest episode of Robot Talk on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of October to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve got a...
Episode Twenty: Paul Dominick Baniqued
October 07, 2022 10:40 - 10 minutes - 15 MBThis week, Claire talked to Dr Paul Dominick Baniqued from The University of Manchester all about brain-computer interface technology and rehabilitation robotics. To celebrate the new season of Robot Talk, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome t-shirts! For a chance to win, all you have to do is share the latest episode of Robot Talk on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of October to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve got a u...
Episode Nineteen: Roopika Ravikanna
September 30, 2022 13:15 - 19 minutes - 27.3 MBIn the first episode of the new season, Claire chatted to Roopika Ravikanna from the University of Lincoln all about farm robots, fruit-picking and human-robot interaction. To celebrate the new season, we’re running a competition to win one of our awesome Robot Talk t-shirts! For a chance to win, all you have to do is share the latest episode of Robot Talk on Twitter and tag @UKRobotics. Five lucky listeners will be randomly selected at the end of October to receive a free t-shirt – we’ve ...
Episode Eighteen – Robot Talk Live: Robotics in the Home
June 24, 2022 14:14 - 59 minutes - 81.2 MBThe first robots went into space over 60 years ago and robotics have become a familiar sight in many industrial settings, but it took a bit longer for robots to make their way into our homes. Robotic vacuum cleaners first started to make an appearance in homes about 20 years ago now, and according to a recent survey by the UK-RAS Network, 28% of people say that robots are now an occasional part of their everyday lives while 13% say they are fully integrated into their day to day lives. But h...
Episode Seventeen – Bioinspired Robots: learning from nature
June 13, 2022 12:00 - 44 minutes - 61.4 MBIn many areas of robotics, scientists and engineers are taking inspiration from nature in their designs. Bioinspired robotics now encompasses a huge number of different research fields and applications that we’ve discussed before, from sensing to locomotion and from medical to agricultural robotics. This month, I’m chatting to three roboticists who’ve taken a leaf out of nature’s book to develop innovative new robots. Robot Talk Live will be back again for the UK Festival of Robotics in Ju...
Episode Sixteen – Disaster Response: robots to the rescue
April 29, 2022 17:12 - 33 minutes - 46.3 MBOne of the most dangerous and unpredictable Earth environments we can send robots into are disaster zones – sites devastated by natural disasters or conflict — but here they can play some of their most impactful roles, such as surveying, search and rescue, even detecting land mines or defusing bombs. To find out more about these daring rescue robots, I’ll be chatting to two roboticists who’ve worked on disaster response: Russell Buchanan (University of Oxford) and Dr. Mario Gianni (Universit...
Episode Fifteen – Trustworthy Robots: building rapport
March 25, 2022 16:46 - 42 minutes - 58.7 MBRobots are becoming a more and more important part of our home and work lives and as we come to rely on them, trust is of paramount importance. Successful teams are founded on trust, and the same is true for human-robot teams. But what does it mean to trust a robot? I’ll be chatting to three roboticists working on various aspects of trustworthiness in robotics: Dr Anouk van Maris (University of the West of England), Faye McCabe (University of Birmingham), Daniel Omeiza (University of Oxford)...
Episode Fourteen – Aerial Robotics: taking flight
February 25, 2022 19:43 - 28 minutes - 38.8 MBOne of the most familiar types of robot are drones – we’ve seen them replace fireworks at Olympic opening ceremonies and you might have even seen people flying their own. But this is one method of locomotion we haven’t yet covered on Robot Talk, so for episode 14 we’re taking to the skies to find out more about the challenges and opportunities of aerial robotics. I’ll be chatting to two roboticists: Dr Stephen Prior (University of Southampton) and Dr. Jinya Su (University of Essex). Step...
Episode Thirteen – Robot evolution: survival of the fittest
January 28, 2022 18:57 - 39 minutes - 54.1 MBUnlike the characteristics of most robots, the adaptations of living organisms weren’t designed - they evolved through natural selection over millions of years. Evolutionary robotics takes inspiration from this process of natural selection to create new robot designs, and allow robots to adapt to their environment over many generations. In the first episode of 2022, I’ll be chatting to three roboticists about robot evolution and adaptation: Dr Edgar Buchanan (University of York), Prof Fumi...
Episode Twelve – Manufacturing Robotics: onto the factory floor
November 26, 2021 21:09 - 38 minutes - 53.7 MBThe manufacturing industry’s need for accuracy and repeatability in repetitive manual tasks made it an early adopter of robotics technology. Now, as machines become more intelligent and more autonomous, manufacturing robots are taking on more challenging tasks and working more closely with humans. In this episode, I’ll be chatting to three roboticists researching and working in manufacturing and automation: Dr Gilbert Tang (Cranfield University), Dr Paul Shepherd (University of Bath) and D...
Episode Eleven – Self-Driving Cars: behind the wheel
October 29, 2021 15:36 - 34 minutes - 47.3 MBIn the last decade, autonomous cars have gone from being SciFi fantasy to a commercial reality on our roads, and as with most major technological developments, self-driving cars have been met with a mixture of excitement and fear. Autonomous vehicles have the potential to improve safety on the roads and take over time-consuming and difficult tasks off road, but researchers must be able to demonstrate their safety if we are to entrust these vehicles with more responsibility. In this episode...
Episode Ten – Robot Swarms: flocking together
September 24, 2021 13:31 - 28 minutes - 39.3 MBWelcome to a brand-new season of Robot Talk, hosted by Dr Claire Asher! In season 1 we talked about many different types of robot, working alone or directly with humans. One thing we didn’t get to touch upon very much is when robots work together with other robots, for example, as part of a swarm. In the first episode of the new season, Claire chats to two roboticists working on swarm robotics: Merihan Alhafnawi (University of Bristol) and Dr John Oyekan (The University of Sheffield). Mer...
Episode Nine – Robot Talk Live: Robots into the Wild
June 25, 2021 20:36 - 59 minutes - 82.5 MBWe often hear about robots working in controlled, predictable environments, like an assembly line or an operating theatre, but as a former field biologist, Claire is most interested in what happens when we take robots outside into wild environments, where everything — from the elements to the local wildlife — seems to be against you. In this special live recording for the UK Festival of Robotics, Claire chatted to Sophie Armanini (TU Munich / Imperial College London), Ben Scott-Robinson (S...
Episode Eight - Soft Robotics: a new kind of robot
May 28, 2021 19:04 - 32 minutes - 44.5 MBThroughout the series so far, soft robotics has come up over and over in different areas, from medicine to agriculture. In this episode, I’ll be chatting to three roboticists working on different applications of this fascinating and fast-developing area of robotics: Dr Thomas Thuruthel (University of Cambridge), Angus Clark (Imperial College London) and Dr Jelizaveta Konstantinova (Ocado Technology). Get your ticket for Robot Talk Live: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/149424567905 Dr Thomas...
Episode Seven - Agricultural Robotics: Farming for the future
April 30, 2021 13:30 - 28 minutes - 39.4 MBAlthough as consumers we may sometimes feel quite detached from food production, agriculture is central to all our lives. As an industry, agriculture has often been at the forefront of technological development, and today researchers are developing robots that can lighten the load at virtually every stage of the growing process. In this episode, I’ll be striding into the muddy world of agricultural robotics with help from Petra Bosilj (University of Lincoln) and Chris Chavasse (MuddyMachin...
Episode Six - Human-Robot Collaboration: working together
March 27, 2021 17:43 - 38 minutes - 53.6 MBAlthough robots have been in our lives for decades, they have often been kept quite separate from the humans they help, whether that's huge industrial manufacturing robots that operate behind fences on the factory floor or remote handling robots in nuclear and surgical settings. But increasingly, we want to design robots that work with us in close collaboration. In this episode, I take a look at the rapidly-developing world of human-robot collaboration — from nimble robotic assistants in t...
Episode Five - Robots for hazardous environments: into the extremes
February 26, 2021 18:41 - 27 minutes - 37.8 MBOne way in which robots can be put to particularly good use is for performing tasks in environments that are too dangerous for humans to work, for example deep below ground or underwater, or in industrial environments like nuclear power plants. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Simon Watson (University of Manchester) and Jonathon Witty (UK Atomic Energy Authority) to chat about some of the ways robotics is being used in hazardous places like these. Dr Simon Watson is a Senior Lecturer in ...
Episode Four - Robot Senses: perceiving the world
January 29, 2021 21:20 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MBIf we want to create smart, adaptable robots, the first thing they need to be able to do is to sense and understand the world around them. In this episode, I explore how robots sense and perceive the world around them with help from Matt Watson (Opteran Technologies), Dr Perla Maiolino (University of Oxford) and Dr Dimitrios Kanoulas (University College London). Matthew T. Watson received a Masters in electronic engineering and a PhD in robotics from the University of Sheffield. In 2019 h...
Winter Treats Pt 5
December 31, 2020 17:30 - 4 minutes - 6.18 MBClaire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In the final clip, we hear from UK roboticists about the robots they'd most like to have in an apocalypse to help them survive.
Winter Treats Pt 4
December 31, 2020 15:30 - 5 minutes - 7.31 MBClaire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In the fourth clip, we hear researchers' tips and advice for starting a career in robotics.
Winter Treats Pt 3
December 30, 2020 17:00 - 4 minutes - 6.53 MBClaire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In this clip, we hear from UK roboticists about what made them decide to pursue a career in robotics.
Winter Treats Pt 2
December 30, 2020 14:00 - 4 minutes - 6.01 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions. In the second clip, we hear from UK roboticists about their favourite robot characters from film and television.
Winter Treats Pt 1
December 29, 2020 17:00 - 7 minutes - 10.9 MBAs a special treat for the holiday season, Claire asked her guests some extra questions about their careers, their advice, and their favourite robots. In the first clip, we hear from UK roboticists about their career paths.
Episode Three - Robot Locomotion: getting moving
November 27, 2020 17:46 - 31 minutes - 43.8 MBOne of the most fundamental things a robot can do is to move around in its environment, and engineers have developed lots of different solutions to robotic locomotion – legs, wheels, rotors, and everything in between. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Romeo Orsolino (Dynamic Robot Systems Group, University of Oxford), Chris Cieslak (BladeBUG), and Dr Chengxu Zhou (Real Robotics Lab, University of Leeds) to talk about the amazing and sometimes surprising ways that robots get moving. Dr Rom...
Trailer - Robot Locomotion
November 13, 2020 15:27 - 1 minute - 1.88 MBEpisode three of Robot Talk looks at different approaches to robotic locomotion. In this episode, Claire chats with Dr Romeo Orsolino (University of Oxford), Dr Chengxu Zhou (University of Leeds) and Chris Cieslak (BladeBUG) about the amazing and sometimes surprising ways that robots get moving. Don't miss the full episode, out on the 27th November!
Episode Two - Space Robotics: out of this world
October 30, 2020 15:16 - 33 minutes - 46.2 MBOf all the different areas that robotics is being applied to, space robotics might be the one that most captures people’s imaginations and inspires us to make what seems impossible, possible. From robots in orbit to planetary rovers and wearable tech, in this episode we’ll explore the latest developments in space robotics and technology. In this episode, I’m joined by Xander Hall (Airbus Defence and Space), Dr Arthur Bouton (Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey) and Steph Pau (Hamlyn ...