Robotics Research Group, University of Oxford
The Robotics Research Group, which is part of the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering, was established in 1985 by Professor Michael Brady. Prof. Brady brought together a group of engineers who shared the same passion in doing robotic research and were into the field of artificial intelligence. After it was founded, the small group has grown into six research groups, whose interests vary from medical imaging down to mobile robotics.
The six major groups in the University of Oxford’s Robotics Research Group include the Active Vision, the Visual Geometry, Pattern Analysis and Machine Learning, Wolfson Medical Vision Laboratory, the Microelectronic Circuits and Analogue Devices, and the Mobile Robotics.
Among the notable projects that one of the groups in the Robotics Research Group has made was that of a Mobile Robotics Research group. Headed by Professor Paul Newman, and together with his group, the researchers developed a robot that can move autonomously by perceiving and understanding its environment.
The group’s goal is to create a robot that can determine where its location is without the help of an expensive infrastructure, allowing this mobile robot to explore more areas; especially those not yet mapped by people, or places where it can be dangerous for humans. The group also aims for it to perform certain tasks or function in areas that are not static, like a street.
Together with its other subgroups, the University of Oxford’s Robotic Research Group is based at the Engineering Science triangle in the new Information Engineering Building. It is here where the group continues to explore the field of robotics and perform intensive research in the world of machines; hoping that one day, these machines can work with humans efficiently, and interact not only with people, but also with other machines.
