IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2017 - 17

COMPETITIONS

U.K. Robotics Week
By Robert Merrifield

T

he U.K. Robotics Week, sched-
uled for 24-30 June 2017, is
shaping up to be an exciting
festival of robotics, with some-
thing for everyone. The week includes
more than 100 events around the country,
including four academic robotics chal-
lenges in the application domains of
surgery, infrastructure, social care, and
extreme environments. In addition to
the academic challenges, a robot design
competition for schoolchildren will
be held.
The Surgical Robot Challenge
In this international competition
(www.roboticsweek.uk/surgicalrobot
challenge.htm), ten finalist teams from
around the world will come to London
to demonstrate their surgical robot
innovation to a panel of leading roboti-
cists and surgeons. Now in its third year,
the Surgical Robot Challenge is becom-
ing a highlight of the surgical robot cal-
endar, with live demonstrations of
game-changing technologies. Each
team has just three hours to set up and
demonstrate their surgical robot. To
achieve this, teams must thoroughly test
their technology in advance to be sure
that it will function correctly out of the
lab, after extensive travel, and in front
of an audience. With a prize fund of
£10,000, the teams have added motiva-
tion to push their research to the next
level. This competition is supported
by Keller und Knappich Augsburg,
Intuitive Surgical and Applied Dexterity,
and is organized by the U.K. Robotics
and Autonomous Systems Network and
Imperial College London as part of the

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2017.2691139
Date of publication: 13 June 2017

Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Ro-
botics. The competition finals will be
held in London on 25 June 2017.
Extreme Environments
Robot Challenge
This event (www.roboticsweek.uk/
extremerobotchallenge.htm) will cover
a wide range of scenarios involving the
threat to human life from unpredictable
events including accidents, man-made
and natural disasters, and terrorist
activities. The Extreme Environ-
ments Robot Challenge will take
place as a series of scenarios created
by teams from around the United
Kingdom. It is being organized by
the University of Southampton and
the U.K. Robotics and Autonomous
Systems Network.
The Social Care Robot Challenge
In this challenge (www.roboticsweek
.uk/socialcarerobotchallenge.htm),
experts in social care robotics from both
academia and industry will come to-
gether to advance our knowledge of
how robots can be integrated into the
health care services of the future. The
Social Care Robot Challenge is taking
the form of a collaborative research
exercise to help increase the impact of
social care robotics. The Social Care
Robot Challenge is being organized
as a joint venture between the U.K.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
Network, Sheffield Robotics and Bris-
tol Robotics Lab.
The Robots for Resilient
Infrastructure Challenge
This two-day challenge event (www
.roboticsweek.uk/infrastructurerobot
challenge.htm) will bring together

academics, experts from industry, poli-
cy makers, and stakeholders to explore
the future use of robots in the creation,
inspection, repair, and maintenance of
critical infrastructure. Application areas
span broad domains, including civil
infrastructure, transport (rail, road,
sea), offshore energy, space, and nuclear
energy. This challenge is being orga-
nized by the University of Leeds and the
U.K. Robotics and Autonomous Sys-
tems Network and will take place in
Leeds on 27-28 June 2017.
The School Robot Challenge
This competition for schoolchildren
(www.roboticsweek.uk/schoolrobot
challenge.htm) encourages children to
observe the nat-
ural world and
design their own The U.K. Robotics
robotic bugs. A Week, scheduled
free software
package is pro- for 24-30 June
vided for Win- 2017, is shaping up
dows and Mac-
intosh computers to be an exciting
that allows chil- festival of robotics,
dren to turn their
two-dimensional with something
drawings of ro- for everyone.
botic bugs into
full three-dimen-
sional (3D) models. This fun activity
acts as a great introduction to 3D design,
develops digital skills, and aims to
encourage young people to develop their
interest in engineering and robotics.
This competition is open to all children
aged 4-18 and is organized by the U.K.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Net-
work. Winners will be announced on
30 June 2017 at the International Ro-
botic Showcase event held in London.

june 2017

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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http://www.roboticsweek.uk/ http://www.roboticsweek.uk/surgicalrobot http://www.roboticsweek.uk/schoolrobot http://www.roboticsweek http://www.roboticsweek.uk/infrastructurerobot
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