The UK a surge in robotics research

Among several projects in the UK is the first robot that can jump like a grasshopper and roll like a ball. It could play a key role in future space missions.

The “Jollbot” has been designed by Rhodri Armour, a doctorate student from the University of Bath, western England. It is hoped his creation, which can jump over obstacles and roll over smoother terrain, could be used for space exploration or land survey work in the future.

Nottingham Trent University

Meanwhile, a two-metre-high robotic serpent that uses sensors to react to people nearby is being developed by experts at Nottingham Trent University. Called the Snake Robot, it is constructed from a series of vertebrae containing pneumatic muscles and detects movement and reacts accordingly.

We have gained a significant amount of information during our research and the project has produced some very valid findings and results, particularly in relation to the use and control of pneumatic air-muscle technology

Dr Philip Breedon

Control Technologist

Nottingham Trent University

Control Technologist Dr Philip Breedon explained: “We have gained a significant amount of information during our research and the project has produced some very valid findings and results, particularly in relation to the use and control of pneumatic air-muscle technology. We believe that there are very real possibilities for future applications in physiotherapy and rehabilitation techniques which could be based around our findings,” he added.

Observers such as Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates believe that by 2025 we could have robots in most homes. In laboratories across Europe, researchers are creating designs that could become the robo-butler of the future.

Jollbot

Gates likens the current state of robotics research to the earliest days of personal computing history when he formed the fledging company Microsoft.

Similar to the 1970s personal computer market, robotics designs and breakthroughs are following one another rapidly, and consumers are beginning to take an interest.

Every year sees a new toy robot, while commercial robot vacuum cleaners and lawn-cutting robots are readily available. Window-cleaning robots are on the way.

One of the biggest challenges that face robots designed for space exploration is being able to move over rough terrain.

Robots with legs are generally very complex, expensive to build and control, and encounter problems if they fall over.

Wheels are a simpler solution to this but are limited by the size of obstacles they can overcome.

To solve the problem, Rhodri Armour and colleagues in Bath University’s Centre for Biomimetic & Natural Technologies have been looking to nature for inspiration, by designing a robot that jumps obstacles in its path as an insect could.

The Jollbot is shaped as a spherical cage that can roll in any direction, giving it the manoeuvrability of wheels without the problem of overturning or getting stuck in holes.

Before jumping, the robot squashes its spherical shape. When it is ready, it releases the stored energy all at once to jump to heights of up to half a metre

Rhodri Armour

University of Bath

The robot is also flexible and small, weighing less than a kilogram, meaning it is not damaged when landing after jumping and is therefore less expensive than conventional exploration robots.

Armour explained: “Others in the past have made robots that jump and robots that roll but we have made the first robot that can do both. In nature there are two main types of jumping: hopping, like a kangaroo, which uses its fine control and direct muscle action to propel it along; and ‘pause and leap’, such as in a grasshopper, which stores muscle energy in spring-like elements and rapidly releases it to make the jump. We have made a robot that jumps in a similar way to the grasshopper but uses electrical motors to slowly store the energy needed to leap in its springy skeleton. Before jumping, the robot squashes its spherical shape. When it is ready, it releases the stored energy all at once to jump to heights of up to half a metre.”

Armour, who recently submitted his doctoral (PhD) thesis, took measurements using a high speed camera to analyse how the robot jumped and to predict how it might behave in a low-gravity environment, such as in space.

He added: “Future prototypes could include a stretchy skin covered in solar cells on the outside of the robot, so it could power itself, and robotic control sensors to enable it to sense its environment.”

The robot’s components were made by rapid prototyping technology, similar to that used by the RepRap machine pioneered by the university and that builds parts by “printing” layers of plastic on top of each other to produce a 3D object.

Elsewhere in the UK, the world’s cheapest robots, capable of forming swarms, have been unveiled. They are the forerunners of a new generation capable of a range of jobs, from exploring space to closing off motorways after an accident and charting pollution spills.

Inspired by bees, ants and other social creatures, the coin-size robots made their debut at a recent international conference on artificial life in Winchester, southern England, and marked a breakthrough in “swarm robotics”.

Swarm robots could cost as little as 15 pounds each if at least 1,000 are made, said Alexis Johnson and Dr Klaus-Peter Zauner of the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics & Computer Science.

Long-term possible applications of massed ranks of swarm robots are in monitoring pollution spills, said Dr Zauner. “Armed with sensors, they can map out a danger zone if a barrel of pollutants in a storage area has leaked, and move if it continues to spread,” he added.

Swarms could also be used on motorways, to close off a lane quickly if there is an accident, each tiny robot displaying a bright warning sign to alert traffic. They are so cheap that many more can roll into place to fill the gaps if any are crushed by a car, trodden on or simply fail.

And Dr Zauner said that they could help explore other worlds because a swarm of cheap robots is much more robust and reliable than one expensive all-purpose robot. And they could be used to create vast arrays of solar panels in space.

In the commercial world, as well as the academic research field, robotics in the UK is at an advanced stage. Roke Manor Research Limited, a Siemens company, recently demonstrated some of its latest technology, including Dora.

Roke’s robot Dora (demonstration of robot autonomy) is capable of exploring dull, dark and dangerous environments. Dora represents a synthesis of Roke’s expertise in autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, sensor exploitation, vision systems, tracking and navigation, and simultaneous location and mapping.

Exploring potentially dangerous indoor environments is one of the most hazardous activities undertaken by military and emergency services personnel, and Roke’s research is claimed to be leading the field.