The National Robotarium is continuing its successful outreach and engagement work through its prominent support of the VEX IQ Robotics competition, an international contest sponsored by global tech heavyweights, including Tesla and Microsoft, to encourage budding roboticists to design and create their own innovative robot.
As host venue for the first event regional heats in Scotland since 2019, the UK’s leading centre for Robotics and AI welcomed 13 teams from 10 high schools to take part in an intensive battle, during which teams had to engineer innovative robotic solutions with a basic kit of components.
Teams from primary schools James Gillespie and Strichen were the overall winners and relative newcomers First Step Robotics, a community interest group from Livingston, also dazzled the judges to win the prestigious Amaze Award, which recognised their submission as the most outstanding, well-rounded, and best performing robot in the competition.
The winning teams will now take on other regional winners in the UK finals event taking place in Telford on 1-2 March. Over the two days, the finalists’ robots will be judged based on criteria including design, build, sportsmanship, and innovation, with the Tournament Champions securing a place at the ‘largest robotics competition in the world’ final in Dallas.
Blair Wilson, lead for Engagement at the National Robotarium will be attending the event with support from robot dog Spot. He’ll also be judging one of the categories. He said: “I am thrilled to join-up with VEX Robotics to support young people in Scotland in developing their robotics engineering skills.
“The National Robotarium is passionate about inspiring the next generation to become the roboticists of the future, empowering them to learn an entire range of STEM skills including maths, programming, computer science and engineering.
Blair Wilson, Engagement Lead at the National Robotarium
“That’s why we were so excited to host the Scottish heats and help provide the robotics kits to the teams to enable them to realise their vision.
“I’ll be at the finals to cheer on all our Scottish regional qualifiers as well as all the amazing UK teams that are taking part.”
WATCH the stream of the VEX Robotics Competition UK National Championships using this link, live from 0900 on Friday 1 March.
Next-generation socially assistive robots have been successfully tested in a healthcare setting to assist patients, alleviate their anxiety, and relieve pressure on nursing staff as part of a hospital trial co-conducted by researchers from the National Robotarium in Paris, France.
The SPRING (Socially Assistive Robots in Gerontological healthcare) trial developed robots equipped with advanced artificial intelligence to enable natural conversations, understand patient needs, and assist hospital staff with routine tasks across three waves of experiments with elderly volunteers at Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris.
Results show that robots were able to smoothly engage in social interactions like greeting patients, answering questions, and providing directions. Critically, robots are quickly demonstrating an ability to comprehend multi-party conversations – following dialogue between several individuals simultaneously.
By undertaking simple but repetitive duties, robots also reduced potential physical contact between clinicians and patients as part of the trial, with early feedback suggesting the use of socially assistive robots may lower infection transmission risk, while boosting productivity of nurses and doctors.
Anxiety and uncertainty can often precede a hospital visit and it is understood that this behaviour can be more pronounced in senior patients, with up to 20% of older adults suffering from the illness1. It is hoped that the availability of helpful and socially intelligent robots that can converse and answer initial screening questions whilst alleviating busy hospital staff could prove extremely beneficial in clinical settings.
Patients and companions make their enquiries with the ARI robot
Professor Anne-Sophie Rigaud, Head of Department at Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, said:
“Our patients are increasingly interested in robotics and the evolution of hospital services, which they see as the logical evolution of our society. We believe that the ARI robot could in future become an essential element of patient care in hospitals, thanks to its capacity for social interaction and guidance.
“Older adults have also expressed that they’re pleased with the design of the robot and thought that it would be useful to provide information and companionship to patients with cognitive disorders.”
The feasibility of implementing the SPRING project has been made possible by academics at the National Robotarium who have made major advances in developing large language models (LLM) that enable robots to be capable of natural and fluent conversations with groups of people.
The Paris trials have provided key insights into how this emerging technology can enhance care delivery and safety whilst simultaneously advancing innovations in areas like computer vision, audio processing and human-robot interaction which have potential for further global applications.
The €8.4 million collaborative SPRING project includes researchers from Heriot Watt University, the National Robotarium, the Czech Technical University, Bar Ilan University Israel, University of Trento Italy, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, PAL Robotics Spain, ERM AUtomatismes France, and is coordinated by Inria France. SPRING received support from Horizon 2020, a programme funded by the European Union.
The National Robotarium is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative, supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4 million from the Scottish Government. The initiative aims to turn Edinburgh into the data capital of Europe and is part of the wider £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.
Professor Oliver Lemon, academic co-lead at the National Robotarium
Oliver Lemon is a professor of AI and academic co-lead at the National Robotarium. He said:
“Today’s rapid advances in AI are truly inspiring and open up a world of possibilities for its positive impact on various sectors, including healthcare. One of the most significant contributions of robotics and AI is its ability to conserve resources and alleviate human workload, therefore providing valuable new tools for enhancing healthcare delivery.
“The prospect of robots seamlessly collaborating with hospital staff to enhance the patient experience is now closer to reality. Promising initial trials at Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris have demonstrated our robot’s ability to converse effectively with patients and their companions simultaneously.
“We believe that the SPRING project marks a significant milestone in the development of interactive robotics, and we are proud of its achievements, while recognising the exciting challenges that lie ahead.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland, Malcolm Offord, said:
“The early trials into helper robots successfully demonstrates the great potential such advanced technology has to deliver vital support to health staff, improve patient care and prevent the spread of infections and diseases.
“The UK Government has invested £21 million in the National Robotarium helping foster world-leading research and support high quality jobs, investment and growth, as part of our more than £2.9 billion investment to level up across Scotland.”
Scottish Government Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Secretary, Neil Gray, said:
“I welcome this progress using artificial intelligence to help ease the pressure on health service staff.
“With Scottish Government support, the National Robotarium is using cutting edge research to help drive innovation and artificial intelligence to deliver creative solutions to real world challenges.”
Robotics and automation are already helping to reduce risk to humans and increase productivity on building sites, writes Pete Felton, Business Development Executive at the National Robotarium.
FROM its early use on films such as Rocky, Marathon Man, and The Shining through to its modern appearances at the side of football matches and other sporting clashes, the Steadicam has revolutionised the life of camera operators, removing much of the strain of manoeuvring heavy equipment from their shoulders and arms. Soon, construction workers should be benefiting from similar assisted technology too.
In the same way that the Steadicam rig helps camera operators by spreading the weight of cameras, batteries, and monitors throughout their core, engineers are developing systems to aid construction workers in handling heavy tools. Rather than putting the pressure on workers’ shoulders or arms, these robotic structures should help to spread the load, cutting down on the number of potential workplace injuries.
Other robotic systems are already making a difference on construction sites. Hilti’s Jaibot semi-autonomous drilling robot is harnessing data from building information modelling (BIM) systems to carry out mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) installation tasks such as overhead drilling, both improving productivity and reducing the strain on human workers.
That focus on health and safety is one of the key areas in which robotics and automation can help to take people away from dangerous and dirty jobs, helping to improve the quality of life for everyone. Robots and people can work side by side in safety.
This isn’t about robots taking people’s jobs – there’s a massive skills shortage in the construction industry and so if we can take workers away from mundane and repetitive jobs and use robots instead then those workers can be retrained to carry out more skilled tasks, adding greater value to projects and giving them more job satisfaction.
Brick-laying machines don’t work well because people are better suited to that type of skilled work. But, in the pre-construction phase, robots could be assembling panels and other prefabricated materials, freeing up people to do tasks on site that require finer skills – such as sealing, plumbing, or installing electrics – which are much harder for robots.
Pete Felton, Business Development Executive at the National Robotarium
Here at The National Robotarium, we know that it’s no good talking the talk if we don’t walk the walk as well. That’s why we used a Spot robot – built by Boston Dynamics and kitted out with sensors by our team – to inspect our building site at night when construction was underway on our flagship facility.
This type of simultaneous localisation and mapping work is going to become even more important when stricter building regulations are introduced throughout the UK. Robots can help to gather the data that will be needed to prove that construction projects comply with environmental regulations – if robots don’t carry out this type of work then construction companies will need to employ people, at significant expense, to carry out mundane tasks such as checking sealant and auditing insulation.
Ultimately, using robots to gather data will enable the creation of digital twins while office blocks and industrial projects are being constructed, creating an accurate record of where each wire, cable, pipe, and duct is situated. Those digital twins can then be passed on by the builder to the facilities manager, making the maintenance of properties much easier and creating a digital link all the way through from the architect to the maintenance staff.
As well as improving conditions for workers and increasing productivity in the UK, the greater use of robotics and automation could also generate an economic boost for Britain through exports too. If British construction companies harness the power of robots then the technologies they create and the expertise they develop could be exported to markets throughout the world.
The building boom across the Gulf States and the wider Middle East is set to be eclipsed by the growth of the affluent middle classes in India, with the ensuing need for buildings that rapid urbanisation will bring. Such growth can only be achieved in an environmentally sustainable way if robotics and automation are harnessed throughout the construction process, from prefabrication through to retrofitting of existing buildings to make sure they keep dwellers cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
BIM and automation go hand-in-hand when it comes to energy efficiency, both for cooling systems and heating systems, making sure that buildings consume as little power as possible. If we get these factors correct in the UK then we can export that expertise around the world.
Health and safety and digital twinning are just two of the exciting areas in which robots can make a difference to building projects, but our engineers are always looking to work with staff at the sharp end of the construction industry to come up with new ideas – that’s why the doors at The National Robotarium are always open for collaborations.
This article was originally published in BIM Plus magazine on 11 January 2024.
I knew when it began that 2023 was going to be an interesting year. I had secured a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship to pursue Frontier Robotics, a new spin-out created to advance software for underwater robotic autonomy, exploration and inspection and had one year to make the company a reality. Little did I know that, by the year’s close, I would be exhibiting our technology in Dubai during COP28, the world’s largest climate change conference, and meeting VIPs, including royalty!
The support included in the Fellowship provided a great grounding to this whirlwind year. As well as a year’s salary, it offered new Fellows a business support programme, consisting of several days intensive business training from St John’s Innovation Centre with expert advice encompassing pitching, branding and marketing, finance, and legal – all the foundational elements of a fledgling business – as well as access network of ~600 other startup companies. The Fellowship also provided a £15k business support grant that I put towards early-stage financing, webservers, and integrating our core produce AUIP (Autonomous Underwater Inspection Payload) with an ROV manufacturer for a potential future partnership in Norway.
3D reconstruction from testing in a harbour in Norway
The advice and insight from the Fellowship proved invaluable. In May, Frontier Robotics won £100k grant at the Scottish EDGE Awards, the highest possible funding, including a special EDGE prize for Net Zero. This was only our first attempt (I’d heard anecdotally that most successful companies take at least two), so it really proves the effectiveness of the business support I’d had to that point. Particularly learning how to effectively pitch our business in less than 3 minutes.
The Scottish EDGE win changed everything. The investment allowed me to expand the team – I now employ 1 full-time and 2 part-time engineers, as well as a PhD student one day per week – and establish a base for developing Frontier’s technology from theoretical research developed during ORCA Hub (the offshore robotics research project that was a precursor to the National Robotarium’s autonomous underwater robotics research theme), to practical commercial applications that can be adopted by industry.
Jonatan Scharff-Willners winning the top prize of £100k at Scottish EDGE 2023
The win also led to an invite to join the Scottish Enterprise High-Growth Venture Programme, matching me with a mentor to support entrepreneurial skills development, develoeping my business models and helping me engage with investors to raise additional funding. I look forward to working with them over the next few months to accelerate the growth of the company.
Being part of the Heriot-Watt University ecosystem has reaped its rewards. In 2022, ORCA won ‘Research team of the year’ at the Heriot-Watt people celebration awards, and we were a finalist in the Times Higher Education Awards, two significant achievements that felt like the peak of success. Little did I know it was just the beginning of a much larger adventure, preceding a year when I gained more knowledge and experience than I could have imagined!
The ORCA hub wins Research Team of the Year at the 2022 Heriot-Watt University ‘Celebrating our People’ Awards
The in-house Business Development team at Heriot-Watt have also been incredibly supportive throughout the year, offering advice, invites to events and networking opportunities. The team at GRID was instrumental in my participation in the Clean Tech exhibition, part of the Climate Hub programme running at Heriot-Watt’s Dubai campus during COP28. They approached me to showcase the business at an exhibition space visited by scientists, policymakers, schools, invited guests and VIPs throughout the global conference.
I was honoured to exhibit alongside nine other companies that are developing technologies and products for a more sustainable future. These included Crover, also based at the National Robotarium, who have created a burrowing robotic drone to test the environmental conditions of grain silos, feeding back data to help farmers reduce waste caused by moisture and pest infestations; and Smartrawl, headed by Professor Paul Fernandes from the University’s Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Sciences, which has invented an AI-empowered fishing net to identify different species of fish and prevent bycatch of those not needed by trawlers.
A prototype of the Smartrawl AI-empowered fishing net to prevent and reduce trawling bycatch
Meeting and sharing the space with these innovative businesses was one of the most beneficial aspects of the trip. We were able to share our experiences of running a startup and I got lots of valuable advice from those who have already navigated the potential and pitfalls of the Scottish funding and investment landscape. Being in an environment where we quickly connected and could share our successes and struggles bonded us immediately and it’s great to be part of a network of start-ups that can learn from each other’s mistakes and provide much-needed motivation.
The first day in Dubai was an exciting one. We had been informed that His Royal Highness, King Charles III would be visiting to officially open the campus and tour around the CleanTech exhibition and we each had an opportunity to pitch. Despite being told there was only enough time to speak for a single sentence, the King was hugely generous with his time, showing genuine interest in our companies and asking lots of questions. I loved his down-to-earth nature and, as someone who’s been championing sustainable futures for decades, it was clear he was very knowledgeable about the challenges and opportunities for green businesses in the UK.
The First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, was also in attendance on the first day. I had met him before at Scottish EDGE and enjoyed speaking with him again about energy transition in Scotland.
Jonatan and Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf
Over the week, the event brought in over 1000 visitors and it was lovely to meet so many interesting people. Our activity challenged willing participants to become an offshore operator in under 2 minutes using our shared autonomy system that guides and approves the actions in a simulated robotic inspection system.
I was particularly impressed with how quickly the school groups were not only able to grasp the importance for creating a greener future together, but also their ability to pick up the task, controlling the autonomy engine, robot, and 2-camera system (all developed at the National Robotarium) with ease. Our vision for the future is to see robots and humans seamlessly working together and it’s important that people feel empowered to use and control them effectively.
SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping) data
On our one day off, we were able to visit the COP28 exhibition arena and talk to some of the companies showcasing there. I was excited to see the latest inventions, learn what kinds of green tech we’re going to be using in the near-future and talk to potential investors.
What became really clear, really quickly, was that small start-ups and spinouts are leading the way for sustainable innovations, advancing new ideas and solutions to real-world problems quickly, and at scale. It’s an exciting time to be building a new business and heartening to see so many cool new companies coming through with a fresh vision, in comparison with bigger businesses who seem to be less transparent about what they’re doing to tackle climate change.
The week ended with some fruitful discussions with offshore industry representatives, and I’m excited that some have continued since I returned to Scotland.
In 2024, Frontier Robotics will be moving into our next phase of growing our industry portfolio and partnerships so it’s fantastic to have been able to connect with global companies and big industry names thanks to being part of Heriot-Watt University.
Jonatan, a Senior Robotics Engineer, and Frontier Robotics are based at the National Robotarium
The UK has a major opportunity to position itself at the forefront of the robotics and AI revolution. These technologies promise to reshape industries and provide significant economic benefits, but capturing this potential will require vision, investment and focus from government, academia and business.
Recent research highlighted Edinburgh as the top start-up hub outside London for high-growth companies in AI, digital security and fintech. With academic hubs like the National Robotarium nurturing specialist talent, the ingredients exist for Britain to become a leading developer and exporter of robotic and AI technologies.
The global market for robotics is projected to reach $383 billion by 2032. Meanwhile, PwC estimates AI could contribute more than £200 billion to the UK economy by 2030. To seize a share of these booming sectors, strategic action is needed to foster R&D, translate innovations into commercial technologies and ensure necessary skills are available domestically.
The applications of advanced robotics and AI are near limitless. In factories, automated production lines promise improved quality control and reduced operating costs. Machine-learning algorithms can unlock efficiencies in areas from medical diagnosis to supply chain optimisation. And robots can take over hazardous tasks – from construction to nuclear decommissioning – improving safety and productivity.
The benefits for the services sector are immense too. Chatbots using natural language processing are improving the efficiency of customer service interactions. AI analysis of datasets across finance, retail and other sectors is leading to new data-driven insights.
Pepper, an assistive and rehabilitative humanoid robot
Crucially, embracing these technologies can revive our industries and support levelling-up. The UK has an opportunity to be a producer of robots, and not just a consumer – creating jobs and delivering economic growth. But we need to move fast.
Naturally, there are concerns regarding the need for appropriate regulation as robotics and AI develop. It’s imperative that human values steer the design and application of these technologies. And their implementation must avoid perpetuating biases or compromising privacy.
However, scare stories of runaway autonomous systems are misplaced. In reality, robots will allow people to focus on more satisfying, high-value work – collaborating with ever-smarter machines to find innovative solutions.
The UK Government has ambitious plans to promote AI adoption, but greater effort is required if we’re to build national capability spanning R&D, commercialisation and skills development.
Denmark and South Korea’s investments in their domestic robotics sectors demonstrate what focused strategy can achieve. The UK must now play catch-up and articulate its own long-term vision.
Initiatives like the National Robotarium, which is celebrating its first anniversary since launching its state-of-the art facility in 2022, are working closely with government and industry, and can help make this vision a reality. But broad collaboration is vital, alongside public engagement initiatives to improve understanding of how technology can drive prosperity.
The prize of global leadership in AI and robotics is within reach. But in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, action is urgently required. With the right strategic investments and partnerships, these promising technologies can catalyse innovation across the UK economy.
Originally published in The Herald Business and Technology section, on 15 December 2023
An innovative medtech start-up which has created a soft robotic glove to help rehabilitate stroke patients has received almost half a million pounds of new funding to accelerate its product to market.
Bioliberty has secured a £435,000 project from the Biomedical Catalyst, Innovate UK’s flagship grant funding mechanism. The scheme is designed to transform innovative ideas into commercially viable businesses.
The Edinburgh-based company’s robotic glove works by assisting a patient to open and close their hand, an action which can be severely limited following a stroke. Developed in collaboration with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and clinicians, the glove has built-in sensors that allows it to vary levels of resistance to tailor rehabilitation exercises to the user. This new Innovate UK funding will go towards developing the machine learning and data collection elements of the product.
Bioliberty is a tenant at the National Robotarium, benefitting from the world-leading robotics centre’s incubation facilities, state-of-the-art labs, and engineering expertise.
The National Robotarium is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative, supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4 million from the Scottish Government. The initiative aims to turn Edinburgh into the data capital of Europe and is part of the wider £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.
Statistics from the UK’s Stroke Association state that someone has a stroke every five minutes in this country affecting 100,000 people every year. It’s estimated that 1.3 million people in the UK have had a stroke with many requiring ongoing therapy to recover from the symptoms.
New guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published in October states that stroke victims should receive up to three hours of rehabilitation a day, five days a week. However, the Stroke Association has voiced concerns over the NHS’ ability to deliver on this target.
Bioliberty, which has already raised more than £3.5 million in private and public funding and created 8 new highly skilled roles within the company over the last six months, believes the new technology can help deliver on these new guidelines.
Speaking ahead of the UK Stroke Forum in Birmingham, Conan Bradley, Co-Founder at Bioliberty, said:
“Bioliberty is on the verge of a revolutionary leap in rehabilitation technology. Our upcoming trials for our soft robotic glove are set to ignite the United States, with top rehab clinics eagerly in discussions. With this newfound funding, we’re poised to accelerate trials and expedite our market launch. But we’re not stopping at the U.S.; the UK beckons, with a significant demand for innovative rehabilitation solutions amidst the latest NICE guidelines.
“Having access to the National Robotarium’s state-of-the-art office and lab facilities, including its ecosystem of collaborators, industry experts and academic teams, has been vital in helping us to develop our product.”
Lisa Farrell is Business Development Manager at the National Robotarium. She said:
“With an ageing population, demand for robotic solutions to assist in the rehabilitation of those who’ve experienced a stroke will be in great demand. Stroke is the leading cause of disability worldwide1, so Bioliberty’s product is addressing a global need, which is one of the core missions of the National Robotarium.
“The National Robotarium’s mission is to develop robotic and AI solutions which make people safer, healthier and more productive and working with tenant companies, we want to provide a catalyst for entrepreneurship, and deliver economic and societal benefits.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland Malcolm Offord said:
“This pioneering technology has the potential to become a vital tool for health professionals to help improve stroke patients’ care during their rehabilitation process.
“The UK Government has invested £21 million in the National Robotarium helping foster world-leading research and support high quality jobs, investment and growth, as part of our more than £2.7 billion investment to level up across Scotland.”
Heriot-Watt University’s National Robotarium facility for robotics and AI took home the Project of the Year prize at this year’s Learning Places Scotland awards, held on 14 November in Glasgow. The awards, delivered in partnership with the Scottish Government as part of Scottish Learning Estates strategy, are an annual celebration of Scotland’s growing learning estate, recognising facilities that are making strides in sustainability, technology and student experience.
Supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4m from the Scottish Government as part of the £1.3bn Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, the National Robotarium officially opened in September 2022. Since then, the facility has been a catalyst for bridging knowledge between science and business, delivering sustainable economic benefit to Scotland and the UK through its expanding portfolio of industry partnerships that are developing new robotic technologies to address real-world and sectoral challenges.
Designed with sustainability at its heart, the 40,000ft² facility itself offers unrivalled learning spaces, allowing Heriot-Watt to maximise its AI and robotics strengths and lead the field in research. It boasts a variety of flexible spaces and test beds for specialist research, student projects, public engagement, and industry collaborations across three distinct themes; Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Precision Laser Applications (PLA).
The estates and projects team at Heriot-Watt, along with external consultants Michael Laird Architects and Atkins Realis, who collected the award on the night, were recognised for their collaborative efforts in creating a cutting-edge, sustainable centre for the advancement of research and learning in robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
The success of the project and its construction, enduring challenges such as the Covid pandemic and Brexit, was the result of extensive stakeholder engagement, ensuring the building met the requirements of individual teams and research areas, and accommodated emerging technologies through its flexible, fabric-first design.
More on the awards: https://www.learningplaces.scot/awards-dinner-information
Scottish entrepreneurs will be given access to ground-breaking discoveries and innovations that have the potential to reshape entire industries thanks to a pilot programme being launched at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh which is supported by the Barclays Eagle Labs Ecosystem Partnership Programme, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Deep technology or “deeptech” harnesses major scientific discoveries or engineering innovations and has the potential to revolutionise whole economic sectors rather than leading to incremental advances in individual products, processes, and services.
Under the six-month pilot scheme, the DeepTech LaunchPad will give six entrepreneurs from across Scotland access to experts, facilities and equipment within Heriot-Watt University and the National Robotarium.
“Deep-tech isn’t about organic improvement – it’s about harnessing the latest scientific research and engineering breakthroughs to create companies that will disrupt their industries and grow to a global scale.”
Entrepreneurs will also receive training and support from the university’s commercialisation team, helping them to become investment-ready with proven prototype products, industry partners and a viable route to market.
If the pilot scheme is a success then DeepTech LaunchPads have the potential to be rolled out across other Scottish universities.
Grant Wheeler, Head of Commercialisation at Heriot-Watt University, said:
“Having a deep-tech accelerator is one of the missing pieces in Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and will allow our nation to create companies that can compete on an international scale.
“Deep-tech isn’t about organic improvement – it’s about harnessing the latest scientific research and engineering breakthroughs to create companies that will disrupt their industries and grow to a global scale.
“Our DeepTech LaunchPad pilot will give entrepreneurs from outside the university access to the same scientific discoveries and engineering innovations as the students and academics who want to launch spin-out companies, levelling the playing field.
“We expect that the businesses that will be created will go on to attract support from other parts of Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, such as Codebase’s Techscaler programme and Scottish Enterprise’s programmes for high-growth businesses.”
Matthew Corbidge, Director, Barclays Eagle Labs, added:
“Heriot-Watt University’s DeepTech LaunchPad is exactly the type of game-changing initiative that we want to support through our Ecosystem Partnership Programme.
“Using our Ecosystem Partnership Programme, we’re allocating funding to organisations such as Heriot-Watt that are already plugged into their national and regional ecosystems.
“This isn’t about reinventing the wheel or setting up competing schemes – instead, this is about spotting gaps in the ecosystem and helping existing players to fill that need.
“Deep-tech is one of the most-promising opportunities within both the Scottish and wider UK economies and accessing deep-tech at the National Robotarium will help to create companies of a truly global scale.”
The six entrepreneurs chosen to take part in the DeepTech LaunchPad’s pilot phase will each receive a £15,000 innovation voucher, which they can spend on access to facilities and expertise at Heriot-Watt.
If their companies go on to successfully raise funding or hit operating profit targets then they will repay the £15,000.
Trainee surgeons learning to conduct laparoscopic (or keyhole) surgery will soon be able to complete their training quicker thanks to an AI-empowered system being developed by researchers at the National Robotarium of Heriot-Watt University, in collaboration with the Dundee Institute for Healthcare Simulation of University of Dundee.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor human movements in real-time, the self-training system called AILap will combine machine learning and machine vision technologies with low-cost physical box trainers to provide users with real-time feedback that improves their keyhole surgery techniques and skills.
Over the past 30 years, keyhole or laparoscopic surgery has become common practice for a number of procedures, including operations on the gastrointestinal tract where precise stitching (called suturing) is vital. Existing assessment and training methods for these vital skills are often time consuming, labour intensive, access limited, and costly.
A recent survey from surgical-training body the Fellowship Council revealed that up to 56% of fellows who had finished their training were not able to sufficiently execute laparoscopic suturing, with surgical trainees identifying laparoscopic suturing as the most deficient, yet the most important skill, at the conclusion of their surgical training.
It is hoped that AILap will support surgical trainees to increase their access to training through self-directed exercises and benefit from immediate feedback powered by AI. The project will also help clinical academics responsible for the training of surgeons to restructure their programmes to teach more trainees with the support of AI.
The project is composed of researchers from the National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University, alongside academics from the University of Dundee. It has been awarded £600,000 from the UK Government by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
As the National Robotarium celebrates its first anniversary since opening in September 2022, AILap is the latest in a series of transformational projects associated with the facility.
The National Robotarium is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative and is supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4 million from the Scottish Government through the £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.
AILap project lead and National Robotarium academic, Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden (pictured), said:
“Laparoscopy training takes a significant amount of time to learn and currently requires access to training platforms and guidance from expert surgeons who are often time-poor. That’s why AILap technology has the potential to play an incredibly important role in supporting professional training in our public services and health systems.
“We hope AILap will enable training a greater number of surgeons without the need of an expert supervision. The technology will work with off-the-shelf components so it will be affordable and accessible for health care systems around the world.
“At the National Robotarium, researchers are passionate about developing robotics and AI innovations that can be harnessed to tackle the biggest challenges in healthcare. Whether in the field of robotic surgery, laser surgery, assisted living, or early diagnosis for diseases, we’re driving research and building partnerships that can change lives.”
Stewart Miller, CEO of the National Robotarium, said:
“We launched the National Robotarium a year ago with the mandate to develop AI and Robotics solutions that will help people live safer, healthier, and more productive lives. Technologies like this have enormous potential to address key challenges we face as a society, such as the significant time and resources it takes to equip prospective surgeons with the knowledge, practice, and experience of laparoscopic procedures.
“The announcement of this pioneering research project follows 12 months in which our dedicated teams of researchers, academics and engineers have delivered a breadth of cutting-edge innovation on the world stage in social and medical care, agritech, the global energy transition and beyond. AILap is another important milestone in that story and one which I believe demonstrates Scotland and the UK’s role at the forefront of global developments in AI and robotics.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland Malcolm Offord said:
“This pioneering AI technology has the potential to deliver faster and cheaper training for surgeons in the UK, meaning improved skills and better outcomes for patients.
“The UK Government is supporting the National Robotarium with £21 million investment helping to foster this world-leading research as well as delivering high-quality jobs and bringing sustainable economic growth to the region as part of our £300 million investment in South East Scotland.”
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh, Scotland
UK EH14 4AS
Scottish registered charity number SC000278
The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland
EH8 9YL
Scottish registered charity number SC005336
