Bristol Robotics Lab (BRL)

The Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) has a core of 25 members with a further 25 associated staff, and is a joint venture between the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), and the University of Bristol (UoB). Our mission is to understand the science, engineering and social role of robotics and embedded intelligence. Our multidisciplinary approach aims to create autonomous devices capable of working independently, with each other, or with us in human society. The BRL is an interdisciplinary venture drawing on robotics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, psychology, cognitive science, sociology and anthropology. The laboratory is based at the Bristol Business Park, and represents a multi-million pound investment. The laboratory has workshop and rapid prototyping facilities covering an area of over 1000 sqr.m., and has recently been awarded £1M to upgrade and expand its facilities. Many of the associate members of BRL are from the Bristol Neuroscience community. Bristol Neuroscience was founded in 2003 with the broad aim to enable neuroscientists working in Bristol, but at separate sites, to make full use of the resources of expertise and facilities within the UoB and its partner hospitals.

Dr Ailie Turton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental Psychology, UoB and visiting fellow in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at UWE. Her research interests are in stroke rehabilitation and recovery, motor control, perception and action has resulted in over 20 publications. She is also an Occupational Therapist with many years of experience in stroke rehabilitation. Ailie is a secretary for the Society for Research in Rehabilitation and is the lead for the Stroke Research Network in the Western area.

Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan is a Lecturer in Biodynamics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol. The focus of his research is on coupling between mechanics and neurophysiology and its impact on sensory-motor control, with specific concentration on human-robot interface. He has over 40 refereed journal and conference publications, is a named inventor on two patents, has founded two companies based on his academic research, has led more than 5 different research programs in the US and UK since 2005, totalling over £1.8 million in support. His research in human-machine interface and robotics has been recognized with awards from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, the Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ), and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and has been featured in public press by New Scientist, The Engineer (magazine), The Times of India, and on television specials produced by The Discovery Channel and Tokyo Broadcasting Systems.

Professor Chris Melhuish (CM) is Director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, and holds Professorial Chairs at both UoB and UWE. He has 17 years experience in designing and constructing advanced robotic equipment. The last 10 years have been spent working specifically on autonomous robot systems. His research work has resulted in over 100 publications in international refereed journals and conferences. CM has been asked to deliver invited talks at a number of academic, funding body and advanced industrial organisations, including advanced topics workshops at Universities in the UK and across Europe. Nine awarded research grants since 2001 totalled over £3M.

Dr. Tony Pipe is Deputy Director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, a Reader in Robotics & Autonomous Systems at UWE and a visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bristol. He has 15 years experience of research in advanced robotics, machine learning and adaptive behaviour applied to intelligent & distributed control/monitoring systems, and in embedding complex algorithms, such as real-time mammalian brain models of the cerebellum, trigeminal nucleus, superior colliculus and basal ganglia, in re-programmable digital VLSI. He has worked extensively on adaptive joint-controllers for multi-axis robot manipulators, where the focus has been on proving convergence during adaptation and stability of the overall system using Lyapunov theory, and on efficient reaching strategies for redundant robot manipulators. His research work has resulted in over 80 publications in international refereed journals and conferences. Six awarded research grants since 2004 come to a total of £2.4M.