PhD Robotics and Systems Engineering

INTRODUCTION

Automation for the Food Industry Research

The food industry is very labour intensive and as a result is under threat from low wage economies. To allow companies to remain competitive they need to embrace automation. Led by Dr Steve Davis you will learn how many of the challenges found in the food industry cannot be addressed by conventional automation and how advanced systems and grippers are required.

Cognition Robotics and Autonomous Systems

We use the term "cognitive robotics" to refer to robots with higher level cognitive functions that involve knowledge representation and reasoning.

Biologically Inspired Robotics Research

Future robots will move away from operating solely in factories and will interact more closely with humans. This will require a more natural/biological-like human-machine interaction. You will work with new design approaches and learn how they will shape future robotic systems. You will learn how traditional actuators have many shortcomings and how compliance can greatly improve the safety of human robot interaction, and also how these technologies have application in healthcare and rehabilitation applications.

End-effectors and robot hands

You will learn how innovative approaches can be used to grasp difficult to handle products. This course will also teach you how multi-fingered dexterous end-effectors, similar to the human hand, can handle a broad range of products, and how these technologies can be used in tele-presence tasks.

Swarm Intelligence and Multi-Agent Systems

This research theme, as led by Prof. S. Nefti Meziani and Dr T. Theodoridis, concerns the development of an Intelligent Collaborative Behaviour using Multi-Agent Systems/robots using novel swarm intelligent techniques. We have introduced the irrationality theory applied in path planning, obstacle avoidance and emergent behaviours, using the Khepera robots (K-Team) and the Webots simulator.

Uninhabited Autonomous Systems/Air Vehicles (UAS/UAV)

Prof. S. Nefti Meziani, Dr A. Jones, and Dr E. Chadwick lead the research into how uninhabited autonomous systems (UAS) cope with unscripted procedures when conducting a mission where commands are issued at high levels of abstraction. It is designed around human-centric needs with the ability to perform tasks in accordance with instructions which lack adequate 'terms of reference'. You will work in autonomous systems that involve humans-in-the-loop.

You will:

• Research the fields of robotics, mechatronics, automation and control, embedded systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning
• Undertake research around an area from your own profession and develop solutions that can be implemented in the workplace
• Earn a doctorate-level degree to take you further in your current career or provide a gateway into a research career

A minimum of a 2:1 Honours degree or equivalent in a numerate subject such as Engineering, Science, Mathematics or Computer Science. You should be able to demonstrate the use of structured programming language such as C.