Show Notes
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour of The National Robotarium, a global robotics research institute based at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Thomas McGravie, Senior Technician at the National Robotarium, showed me around their ground-breaking facilities. I also spoke to Steve Maclaren, Chief Operating Officer at The National Robotarium about the centre's history, goals and successes so far, and I had a brief chat with a humanoid robot called Ameca. During my visit, I also had the opportunity to interview three of the Robotarium's resident companies: Touchlab, Robocean and Crover. Watch this space for those interviews publishing soon! This episode was made possible by UK RAS STEPS, a programme supporting Research Technical Professionals in robotics and autonomous systems in the UK. Find out more about The National Robotarium and their upcoming events: https://thenationalrobotarium.com/
More from Robot Talk
Claire chatted to Jan Petrš from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Déploya Robotics about novel robot designs for construction and architecture. Jan Petrš is a roboticist, architect, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of robotics and construction. He is currently the co-founder of Déploya Robotics, an EPFL spin-off developing deployable robotic systems for automated façade installation. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at EPFL's Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, where he focused on tensegrity robotics. His PhD research at the Czech Technical University focused on developing a robotic system combining reconfigurable and soft robotics for architectural and construction applications. This episode is powered by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency's Robot Dexterity programme, which aims to transform robotic capabilities and unlock a step-change in human productivity. Support Robot Talk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher Find out more about ARIA: https://aria.org.uk/
Claire chatted to Rika Antonova from the University of Cambridge about using artificial intelligence to develop complimentary robot hardware and algorithms.
Claire chatted to Kushant Patel from Brookhaven National Laboratory about robots that work in scientific facilities, such as particle accelerators.
Last month, Claire hosted a panel discussion at AUV 2026 exploring how progress in marine autonomy resonates with different audiences, from engineers who are developing the technology, to the end users in science, industry and defence, and the young people who will become the next generation of engineers. She was joined by five panellists: Gwyn Griffiths, Daniel Hook, Emma Curtis, Sara Aldhaheri, and Edith-Clare Hall. This bonus episode is brought to you by the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society and the AUV Southampton organising committee, in partnership with Cellula Robotics and Sonardyne International. Get access to the full catalogue of bonus episodes by becoming a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher
During my recent visit to The National Robotarium in Edinburgh, I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak to some of the Robotarium's resident companies. In this interview, I talked to Niall McGrath, CEO of Robocean, a company building and deploying robots to restore seagrass meadows – one of the most important marine ecosystems on Earth. This episode was made possible by UK RAS STEPS, a programme supporting Research Technical Professionals in robotics and autonomous systems in the UK.