The 21st century can expect to see transformative social and economic change due to the impact of advanced robotic and autonomous systems. Research to develop these new technologies requires input from many disciplines from engineering—materials, electronics, mechanical systems, and control; artificial intelligence and computer science; through to the psychological, medical and physical sciences. The development of such disruptive technologies also requires a dialogue with society, facilitated by research in the social sciences, arts and humanities, that can anticipate the transformative impacts of robotics, promoting beneficial impacts whilst minimising adverse ones. To address these challenges, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University have come together to create a new enterprise—Sheffield Robotics—that seeks to integrate robotics research within the City and across the wider region. Founded in 2011, Sheffield Robotics operates dedicated research facilities for robotics in both universities and has academic and research student members from many disciplines and departments. With partners such as the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Sheffield Robotics covers a broad spectrum of research in robotics and autonomous systems, including industrial, field, and service robotics. Sheffield Robotics has one of the largest portfolios of ongoing publicly-funded robotics research in the UK, supported by both the UK Research Councils and the European Union. We are also building research partnerships with leading industrial, commercial, and government organisations in order to ensure the real-world relevance and impact of our research. As a member of the Northern Robotics Network, and of the EPSRC UK-RAS Network, Sheffield Robotics acts as a central hub for robotics research within the UK. Through our international links, we seek to play a leading role in the world robotics community, and to promote the development of ethical, useful, safe, and sustainable robotic and autonomous systems that can enhance human prosperity across the globe.
