Informed by sectoral needs, we work collaboratively with partners around the globe to define, develop and resolve industry challenges through the application of Robotics and AI.
Our dedicated Business Development team connect with a wide range of sectors, working closely with industry leaders to understand the challenges facing their business and exploring how robotics and AI can address them. Whether it’s developing assistive robots to work alongside staff, easing workloads and augmenting the user experience, to creating bespoke autonomous and semi-autonomous systems that can reduce costs, increase productivity and improve safety, our team will help identify and de-risk the best robotic solution.
Working with the National Robotarium can add value to your company by reducing cost, risk and time-to-market
Once on-boarded, new industry projects are assigned member(s) of our Robotics Engineering team, dependent on the skillset and expertise required for developing the robotics prototype or proof-of-concept.
Throughout the process, clients will be looked after by one of our expert team of Project Managers, who will create a clear project timeline based on the client’s needs, ensuring key milestones are delivered on-time and within budget.
The National Robotarium is collaborating with leading geo-data specialists Fugro on UNITE (Underwater Intervention for Offshore Renewable Energies), a £1.4m project supported by EPSRC to develop autonomous, electric remotely-operated vehicles (eROVs) to conduct maintenance and repair on offshore wind turbines. The successful application of eROVs for offshore maintenance can offer a safe, efficient and sustainable solution for global energy providers, potentially shortening maintenance missions from three weeks to three hours and reducing fuel consumption by 97%.
In partnership with Senai Cimatec, a scientific and technological education institution in Brazil, engineers at the National Robotarium developed a new soft robotics solution that could revolutionise onshore and offshore inspection.
The ‘tentacle’, an agile, remotely-operated flexible robot manipulator, has the ability to traverse narrow and irregular environments in both water and air, common in offshore structures, providing a lower-cost, safer alternative to human operation in hazardous conditions.
The success of this project marked an important milestone for the facility as the soft robotic solution was the first system to be fully-created from scratch by the National Robotarium team.
Customised ROVs developed by engineers from the ORCA Hub, a legacy project within the National Robotarium, helped energy giants EDF carry out the first autonomous wind farm foundation inspection at its Blyth Offshore Wind Farm. The trial inspections were undertaken as part of a project to investigate the ability of drone technology to collect high-quality images of offshore turbine technology, ensuring safer and faster operations with a reduced carbon footprint/
The Laboratory for Robotic Assistive living (LARA), based within our Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) labs, provides a testbed for developing new robotic solutions to support independent living, monitor health status and activities within the home, and augment rehabilitation and exercise. Comprising a purpose-built flat, LARA facilitates the research and creation of smart technology solutions to help improve the physical and mental wellbeing of people with assisted living needs.
Robotics to support and motivate patient rehabilitation has been explored by teams at the National Robotarium for a number of years with evidence highlighting that robots can be used to improve technique, track progress and enhance the effectiveness of physiotherapy at home and within a clinical setting.
More recently, we have been working with practitioners to install and test social and assistive robotics in healthcare and physiotherapy settings in Scotland and across Europe, the success of which will pave the way for wider adoption.
The National Robotarium is engaged with clinicians, patients and decision makers within the National Health Service to understand how robotics can better support healthcare in the UK. We have led several projects to test and develop the use of robots in hospitals and on wards, highlighting the benefits they can bring to patient care and staff, and are driving a new model for innovation to advance the implementation of robotics in health.
We are uniquely positioned to support scientific understanding of the benefits of robotics in the health service, offering access to cutting-edge technologies and expertise. For example, located within our Human-Robot Interaction labs is a range of sophisticated rehabilitative equipment generously donated by international robotic technology company Fourier Intelligence. As part of our MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with them, we are advancing research into the use of robotics and data science for exercise, assistive living and rehabilitation, reducing NHS patient waiting times and staff workloads.
In June 2024, The National Robotarium signed a new MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Corps Monitoring, a specialist in security solutions, to improve security and monitoring services for the social care sector.
The agreement will underpin the safe development of technologies, such as assistive robots and smart sensors, in assisted living environments. Corps Monitoring, a division of Corps Security, will apply its extensive expertise to ensure these technologies are deployed safely with enhanced cybersecurity to protect patient data and information.
The National Robotarium – alongside Technology Scotland and CeeD (Centre for Engineering, Education and Development) – have joined forces to support ScotlandIS in the delivery of its Cyber Essentials Grant, which provides funding of up to £1000 to secure CE certification. The fund – backed by The Scottish Government – has been distributed to eligible companies operating in emerging technologies, including robotics, photonics and manufacturing.
Successful applicants have until 31 March 2025 to spend the funding and until 1 July to complete the CE certification.
During the building of the National Robotarium facility, researchers from our Robotics and Autonomous lab tested the use of robots for efficient 3D mapping of the construction site. By equipping one of our Boston Dynamics’ Spot quadruped with lidar and SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping) technology, the robot was able to navigate the hazardous terrain, performing the dual task of 3D mapping and location sensing in a new and complex environment. Rollout of these technologies across the sector could lead to earlier identification of discrepancies, increased efficiency, improved data collection and cost reductions.
We have joined forces with BE-ST (Built Environment – Smarter Transformation), Scotland’s innovation centre for accelerating the built environment’s transition to zero carbon emissions. Through the partnership, we intend to engage with the construction and built environment’s networks and explore how the use of robotics can transform the sector to be more efficient, more resilient and more sustainable.
In spring 2023, the National Robotarium became the first commercial buyers of a Tom v4 robot from the Small Robot Company. Tom v4 is a pioneering autonomous robot that helps farmers better monitor the health status of individual crop plants and reduce herbicide.
In partnership with the James Hutton Institute, Tom will be tested in real crop fields to assess its capabilities for advancing agricultural research and precision breeding.
Crover, one of our first industry residents, are developing a unique burrowing robot to ‘swim’ through grain and analyse and asses the environmental conditions of grain bulks. Data gathered by the robotic drone can offer arable farmers better insights into moisture and temperature levels, allowing them to make informed decisions that can reduce pest infestation, crop damage and waste.
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
