The University of Birmingham has unveiled research into specialist robots capable of being deployed as security guards or nursing assistants which it intends to commercialise.
The robotic technology is the result of a £7.2m ($11.2m) collaborative project, known as STRANDS, between Birmingham, the University of Lincoln, security company G4S, and Austrian care provider the Academy of Ageing Research. The project was funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework programme.
The mobile robots are able to act independently, and utilise an understanding of how 3D space changes around them over time to make intelligent decisions. Put to practical use, this allows the robots to conduct patrols which can monitor premises for break-ins, or for elderly people in need of care due to a fall in a healthcare setting.
Nick Hawes, Birmingham’s academic lead on the project and senior lecturer in intelligent robots, said: “Recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence have enabled mobile robots to operate intelligently in predictable environments for limited periods of time. Our challenge is to develop robots which can go way beyond this, running reliably in dynamic real-world security and care environments for as long as they’re required. This will make these machines truly useful assistants in our workplaces. However to do this, we must make great leaps forward in understanding how robots can understand their worlds using the information their sensors provide. For this problem, long run times are essential as they allow the robots to learn what normally happens around them every day.”
Following conclusion of their research, the team will perform demonstrations of their systems with a view to attract industry partners and investment.
