Robots and Artificial Intelligence: In a University Not so Far, Far Away.
The University of Salford
Not so long ago,
In a university not so far, far away??
In 1987, the University of Salford became the home of the United Kingdom??s National Advanced Robotics Research Centre. The Centre is at the forefront of cutting-edge research and globally-leading developments in advanced technology systems, automation mechanisms, artificial intelligence, and simulational/virtual technologies. Equipped with state-of-the-art robotic and machine equipment and a competent team of scientists and engineers, the Centre focuses on robotic and machine systems, design, walking automata and industrial assembly processes.
The Centre is responsible for a multitude of projects. It has produced a robotic hand that mimics the mechanisms and movements of a human hand.
The Centre is currently working on a musculature, exoskeletal ??suit?? which enables its wearer to move for long periods of time without fatiguing. The suit??s applications are endless. Such technology is a break-through for the field of physiotherapy, sufferers of spinal injury, and soldiers who have to travel large terrains of land. Such technological innovation brings films such as I, Robot out of the genre of science fiction, and into the realm of science reality.
R2D2 and C3PO may not be in a galaxy so far, far away but at a Greater Manchester university.
Submitted by: Shelley Deasey, 06 December 2004
