Imperial kicks off UK Robotics Week with a challenge

School children across the UK also designed their own robo-bugs as part of UK Robotics Week 2016

A surgical robotics challenge will be held at Imperial tomorrow as part of UK Robotics Week celebrations.

The week-long celebration (25 June – 1 July) aims to help people to learn more about robotics, stimulate discussion about the role of robots in our lives and inspire the next generation of scientists.

UK Robotics Week 2016 is organised by the UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network (UK-RAS Network) and supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Professor Yang says UK Robotics Week provides an opportunity to talk about how robotics will change our lives.

As part of the celebrations, Imperial’s Hamlyn Centre will hold The Surgical Robot Challenge 2016. This is an international competition where teams from around the world will come to Imperial to showcase the latest innovations in surgical robotics.

The aim of the challenge is for teams to augment commercially available surgical robotic technology for a range of new purposes. Each team will have three hours to set up their surgical robot and demonstrate their innovation to a panel of experts including pioneers of the field and leading surgeons. Competition prize money in total is £10,000.

The Challenge will take place as part of the annual Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, which enables surgeons and engineers from across the globe to discuss the latest developments in medical robotics.

Professor Guang-Zhong Yang, Director of the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery at Imperial College London, said: “Imperial is home to some of the most innovative robotics research in the world. The Challenge is a great way to push forward the developmental boundaries in this field. I look forward to seeing what some of the world’s brightest minds have come up with to improve robotic surgery.”

Imperial has also been involved in the School Robot Challenge, a nation-wide competition where students could design their own robot bug. The competition links biology, robotics and digital skills and the winner will be announced at the end of the next week.

Making their own robots enabled school children to learn about the value of the UK's robotics industry

Just after the week-long celebrations, Imperial will host of the 2016 Eurohaptics Conference, from 4 July to 7 July 2016. Haptics is a field covering all aspects of the human sense of touch and its engineering applications in, for example, mobile communication, virtual reality devices and medical technology.

Professor Yang, who is also the Chair of the UK-RAS Network, added: “UK Robotics Week provides a unique opportunity to start discussions on how robotics and artificial intelligence will change our lives. The wide range of programmes across the country, during the week, offers the general public opportunities to learn about the current state-of-the-art in robotics and future trends. I hope competitions such as the School Robot Challenge will spark children’s interest in science and technology and help equip them with necessary skills for the future.”