Robots for Resilient Infrastructure, June 2017, Leeds
An International Robotics Challenge Event
27th & 28th June 2017. University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
‘In the air, on the ground, underground and underwater – robots to create, inspect, repair and maintain the physical infrastructure of our everyday lives’
A two day challenge event to bring academics, industry, policy makers and stakeholders together to explore a future use of robots in the creation, inspection, repair and maintenance of critical infrastructure. Application areas are across broad domains including civil infrastructure, transport (rail, road, sea), offshore energy, space, and nuclear. Download the brochure here.
The challenge is supported by The Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) through the Grand Challenge of “Balancing the impact of City infrastructure engineering on natural systems using robots” & EPSRC investment in capital equipment. It is organised in collaboration with the UK RAS Network and UK Robotics Week. The challenge is also supported by the International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction (I.A.A.R.C.), Kier and AEROWORKS.
The Challenge
The underpinning technological challenges for infrastructure robots include: i) Perceive & Patch, ii) Perch and Repair, iii) Plunge and Protect, iv) Fire and Forget, v) Construct and Confirm, vi) Dismantle and Dispose.
Robotics systems are well suited to enable resilient infrastructure through increased infrastructure operational life cycle & productivity, reduction of costs & operator risk, minimisation of environmental impact, and improved quality of data collection.
Read the event review to find out more about the challenge teams and winners.
Programme
Download the programme as a PDF
Day 1, Tuesday 27th June
| Time | Tuesday 27th June | Chair |
| 9.00 am | Introduction and Welcome
– Prof Rob Richardson, Event Chair, Professor of Robotics, University of Leeds – Prof Lisa Roberts, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research & Innovation, University of Leeds – Dr Elaine Massung EPSRC |
Prof Rob Richardson University of Leeds |
| 9.20 am | Keynote: “The Self-Healing City Vision: balancing the impact of city infrastructure engineering on natural systems using robots.” Prof Phil Purnell, Professor of Materials and Structures, University of Leeds | |
| 9.40 am | Keynote: “Societal Dissemination of Robot Technology for Disaster Prevention and Response” Prof Hajime Asama, Department of Precision Engineering, The University of Tokyo | |
| 10.20 am | Refreshment break | |
| 10.40 am | Talk: “From Driving Diggers to Driving Robots” Mr Michael Cook, Transformation Director, Kier Utilities | Dr Bilal Kaddouh, University of Leeds |
| 11.00 am | Talk: “Acoustic Sensing for Buried Pipe Infrastructure” Prof Kirill Horoshenkov, Professor of Acoustics, University of Sheffield | |
| 11.20 am | Competition entry pitches (Day 1). | |
| 12.00 pm | Lunch and exhibition stands | |
| Challenge Demonstrations: to view during lunch.
– Centre for Robotics Research group, King’s College London: Metahand – STRANDS project: Autonomous Safety Guard |
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| 1.20 pm | Talk: “Remote Handling Systems for Hazardous Environments” Stephen Sanders, Oxford Technologies Ltd |
Dr Jongrae Kim, University of Leeds |
| 1.40 pm | Talk: “Robots saving energy, creating jobs and making your feet warmer!” Mathew Holloway, CEO, Q-Bot Limited | |
| 2.00 pm | Talk: “Thinking Inside the pipe….robotics for extreme environments” Wez Little, Innovations Director, Synthotec Ltd | |
| 2.20 pm | Talk: “Robotics and Automation in a Harsh Nuclear Environment” Dr Carwyn Jones, Technical Consultant, James Fisher Nuclear Ltd | |
| 2.40 pm | Refreshment break | |
| 3.00 pm | Talk: “How University and City collaboration can aid local infrastructure funding, finance and value creation: A case study of the Leeds Climate Commission” Tom Knowland, Head of Sustainable Development, Leeds City Council | Prof Netta Cohen, University of Leeds |
| 3.20 pm | Talk: “Autonomous weed spraying on disadvantaged farms”. Charles Fox, Director, Ibex Automation Ltd / University of Leeds | |
| 3.40 pm | Video-only entry robots | |
| 4.00 pm | Refreshment break | |
| Challenge Demonstrations: exterior demonstrations to be held on cricket ground | ||
| 4.20 pm | Computational Engineering and Design group, University of Southampton: Aerial perching and manipulation | Dr Charles Fox, University of Leeds |
| 4.40 pm | Institute of Design, Robotics and Optimisation group, University of Leeds: A mock-up earthmoving truck autonomous operation from drones | |
| 7.00 pm | Evening Meal |
Day 2, Wednesday 28th June
| Time | Wed 28th June | Chair |
| 9.00 am | Keynote: “Developing materials technologies for self-repairing roads” Prof Mark Miodownik, Director of Institute of Making, University College London | Prof Abbas Dehghani, University of Leeds |
| 9.40 am | Talk: “UAVs in self-repairing cities” Dr Bilal Kaddouh, Research Fellow in Robotics, Autonomous Systems & Sensing, University of Leeds | |
| 10.00 am | Talk: “Innovations in Autonomous Aircraft Design and Operations in Southampton”. Dr Chang Liu, Department of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton | |
| 10.20 am | Refreshment break | |
| 10.40 am | Competition entry pitches (Day 2) | Juliet Jopson, University of Leeds |
| 11.10 am | Discussion session: Road mapping the future | |
| 12.00 pm | Lunch and exhibition stands | |
| Challenge Demonstration: to view during lunch.
– Multimedia and Vision group, Queen Mary University of London: Automatic emotion detection in group settings |
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| 1.00 pm | Talk: “Autonomous Robots for Long-Term Environment Monitoring” Dr Nick Hawes, Reader in Autonomous Intelligent Robotics, University of Birmingham | Prof Tony Cohn, University of Leeds |
| 1.20 pm | Talk: “Responsible Autonomy” Prof Michael Fisher, Professor of Computer Science, University of Liverpool | |
| 1.40 pm | Talk: “Challenges and Solutions of Robotic Space Missions” Shaun Whitehead, CTO, ThumbSat Inc | |
| 2.00 pm | Talk: “Challenges in Drone Autonomy” Dr Arthur Richards, Deputy Director of Bristol Robotics Lab, University of Bristol | |
| 2.20 pm | Talk: Title to be confirmed. Prof Sandor Veres, Professor of Autonomous Control Systems, University of Sheffield | |
| 2.40 pm | Refreshment break | |
| Challenge Demonstrations: exterior demonstrations to be held on cricket ground | ||
| 3.00 pm | Institute of Design, Robotics and Optimisation / Institute of Robotics, Autonomous systems and Sensing, University of Leeds: Wireless power transfer for buried infrastructure inspection | Dr Charles Fox, University of Leeds |
| 3.20 pm | Centre for Robotics Research group, Kings College London: Metamorphic walker | |
| 3.40 pm | Statistical Learning and Motor Control Group, University of Edinburgh: Robust shared autonomy for mobile manipulation with continuous scene monitoring | Dr Charles Fox, University of Leeds |
| 4.00 pm | Event close and thanks | Prof Rob Richardson University of Leeds |
| 4.20 pm | Prize Giving | Mr Michael Cook, Kier Utilities |
Contacts
Event co-ordinator
Dr Bilal Kaddouh
E: B.Kaddouh@leeds.ac.uk
General Chair
Professor Robert C Richardson
Director of the Institute of Design, Robotics and Optimisation (iDRO) and Director of the EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotic Systems
E: R.C.Richardson@leeds.ac.uk
Local Steering Committee
- Dr Jordan Boyle School of Mechanical Engineering
- Prof Netta Cohen School of Computing
- Prof Anthony Cohn School of Computing
- Prof Abbas Dehghani School of Mechanical Engineering
- Dr Charles Fox Transport Studies
- Dr Raul Fuentes School of Civil Engineering
- Dr Jongrae Kim School of Mechanical Engineering
- Prof Phil Purnell School of Civil Engineering
- Prof Ian Robertson School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Acknowledgements
The challenge is supported by The Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) through the Grand Challenge of “Balancing the impact of City infrastructure engineering on natural systems using robots” & EPSRC investment in capital equipment. It is organised in collaboration with the UK RAS Network and UK Robotics Week. The challenge is also supported by the International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction (I.A.A.R.C.), Kier and AEROWORKS.
