Robot Talk

Claire chatted to Ali K. Hoshiar from the University of Essex about how microrobots move and work together. Ali Hoshiar is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Essex and Director of the Robotics for Under Millimetre Innovation (RUMI) Lab. He leads the EPSRC-funded ‘In-Target’ project and was awarded the university’s Best Interdisciplinary Research Award. His research focuses on microrobotics, soft robotics, and data-driven mechatronic systems for medical and agri-tech applications. He also holds an MBA, adding strategic and commercial insight to his technical work. Support Robot Talk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher    

Claire chatted to Frances Zhu from the Colorado School of Mines about intelligent robotic systems for space exploration. Frances Zhu has a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University. She was previously a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow and an Assistant Research Professor in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawaii, specialising in machine learning, dynamics, systems, and controls engineering. Since 2025, she has been an Assistant Professor at the Colorado School of Mines in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, affiliated with the Robotics program and Space Resources Program. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Robot Talk will be back for a new season very soon — make sure you're subscribed to be the first to hear the latest episodes! Get more from Robot Talk (including monthly bonus episodes) by joining the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Research into humanoid robots is a rapidly advancing field, with companies around the world striving to produce robots that look and act more like us. But what is it about recreating ourselves in robot form that we find so captivating? Why do humanoid robots both enthral and terrify us? And is our obsession with robotic humans just vanity, or could they play valuable roles in our future society? In this special live recording at Imperial College London as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival, Claire chatted to Ben Russell (Science Museum), Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi (University of Hertfordshire) and Petar Kormushev (Imperial College London) about humanoid robotics. Ben Russell has been the Science Museum’s Curator of Mechanical Engineering since 2004. He has curated six permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions at the museum, including Engineers (2023), Robots (2017), Cosmonauts (2015) and James Watt’s Workshop (2011). He is the author of James Watt: Making the World Anew, (Reaktion Books, 2014), and editor of Robots (Scala, 2017), as well as numerous published and conference papers. Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics and AI at the University of Hertfordshire. She has a master’s degree in Mechatronics and Automatic Control Engineering from the University Technology Malaysia and a Ph.D. in Perceptual Robotics from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy. Her expertise spans assistive robots, mobile robots, agricultural robots, industrial robots, humanoid robots, parallel manipulators, navigation, and outdoor autonomous vehicles. Petar Kormushev is Director of the Robot Intelligence Lab at Imperial College London and an Associate Professor in Robotics at the Dyson School of Design Engineering. His research focus is on reinforcement learning algorithms and their application to autonomous robots. Petar’s long-term goal is to create robots that can learn by themselves and adapt to dynamic environments. His machine learning algorithms have been applied to a variety of humanoid robots, including COMAN and iCub. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher Sign up to the newsletter: https://www.robottalk.org/newsletter/ 

Claire chatted to Gabriel Skantze from KTH Royal Institute of Technology about having natural face-to-face conversations with robots. Gabriel Skantze is a Professor of Speech Communication and Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He specializes in conversational systems and leads several research projects on conversational AI and human-robot interaction. His work focuses on computational models of spoken interaction, integrating both verbal and non-verbal aspects such as prosody, turn-taking, feedback, and joint attention. In 2014, he co-founded Furhat Robotics, where he continues to serve part-time as Chief Scientist. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher  

Claire chatted to Amy LaViers from the Robotics, Automation, and Dance Lab about the creative relationship between humans and machines. Amy LaViers works at the intersection of robotics and dance. Her writing, choreography, and machine designs have been presented internationally at performing arts and engineering venues, including Merce Cunningham’s studios, the Performance Arcade, and universities like Berkeley and Brown. She is the founder of three startup companies, including AE Machines, which won “Product Design of the Year” at the 4th Rev Awards in Chicago. Amy runs the Robotics, Automation, and Dance (RAD) Lab, a non-profit for art-making, commercialization, education, outreach, and research. Robot Talk LiveBe part of the audience for a live recording at the Great Exhibition Road Festival this weekend: https://www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk/event/why-are-we-building-humanoid-robots/  Support the PodcastJoin the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher  

Claire chatted to Nick Thompson from BOW about software that makes robots easier to program. Nick Thompson is CEO of BOW and exited founder of One Beyond Ltd, an international software development firm. His career started in 1997 as a software engineer, founded One Beyond in the early 2000's and after 20 years in the business sold to a private equity firm. In 2022 he was recognised as one of the UK's 'Most Ambitious Business Leaders' by LDC Private Equity Group. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Jane Pauline Ramos Ramirez from Delft University of Technology about drones that can move on land and in the air. Jane Pauline Ramos Ramirez is a licensed engineer with a multidisciplinary background in bionics, mechanical, and aerospace engineering, and international research experience. Her life’s work is rooted in designing inclusive, socially accessible systems that work in synergy with nature and create meaningful impact in communities. As part of this mission, she has been developing nature-inspired drones that can move on both land and in the air — blending her appreciation for nature, design, and the mechanics of how things work. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher  

Claire chatted to Lerrel Pinto from New York University about using machine learning to train robots to adapt to new environments. Lerrel Pinto is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at New York University (NYU). His research is aimed at getting robots to generalize and adapt in the messy world we live in. His lab focuses broadly on robot learning and decision making, with an emphasis on large-scale learning (both data and models); representation learning for sensory data; developing algorithms to model actions and behaviour; reinforcement learning for adapting to new scenarios; and building open-source, affordable robots. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Emma Hart from Edinburgh Napier University about algorithms that 'evolve' better robot designs and control systems. Emma Hart is a computer scientist working in the field of evolutionary computation. Her work takes inspiration from the natural world, in particular biological evolution, and uses this to develop algorithms that 'evolve'  both the design and control systems of a robot, customised  to a specific application. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2022, and was awarded the ACM SIGEVO Award for Outstanding Contribution to Evolutionary Computation in 2023. She was invited to give a TED Talk on her work in 2021 that has over 1.8 million views. Get tickets for Robot Talk live at the Great Exhibition Road Festival: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-are-we-building-humanoid-robots-tickets-1315475706249  Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Will Kinghorn from Made Smarter about how to increase adoption of new tech by small manufacturers. Will Kinghorn is an automation and robotics specialist for the Made Smarter Adoption Programme in the UK. With a background as a chartered manufacturing engineer in the aerospace industry, Will has extensive experience in developing and implementing automation and robotic solutions. He now works with smaller manufacturing companies, assessing their needs, identifying suitable technologies, and guiding them through the adoption process.  Last year he released a book called 'Digital Transformation in Your Manufacturing Business - A Made Smarter Guide’. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher  

Claire chatted to Miranda Lowther from the University of Bristol about soft, sensitive electronic skin for prosthetic limbs. Miranda Lowther is a PhD researcher at the FARSCOPE-TU Centre for Doctoral Training, a joint venture between University of Bristol, University of West of England, and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, where she is pursuing her passion for using soft robotics and morphological computation to help people in healthcare. For her PhD, she is investigating how soft e-skins and morphological computation concepts can be used to improve prosthetic user health, comfort, and quality of life, through sensing and adaptation. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Jeremy Hadall from the Satellite Applications Catapult about robotic systems for in-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing. Jeremy Hadall has worked with robotics for his entire career, developing novel and innovative approaches for manufacturing and logistics industries. He's now turned his experience into the development of robots that enable those tasks in the orbital environment. Prior to joining the Satellite Applications Catapult, he served as Chief Engineer for Intelligent Automation at the Manufacturing Technology Centre for over ten years. He has previously served as a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at Cranfield University. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Tanja Katharina Kaiser from the University of Technology Nuremberg about how applying evolutionary principles can help robot teams make better decisions. Tanja Katharina Kaiser is a senior researcher heading the Multi-Robot Systems Satellite Lab at the University of Technology Nuremberg (UTN) in Germany. She and her team focus on the development of adaptive multi-robot systems to solve complex real-world tasks using artificial intelligence. Tanja received her doctorate in robotics from the University of Lübeck in Germany in 2022. Before joining UTN, she held postdoctoral research positions at the Technical University of Dresden and the University of Konstanz. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Benjamin Mottis from ANYbotics about deploying their four-legged ANYmal robot in a variety of industries. Benjamin Mottis is a Robotics Engineer in charge of ANYmal Research at ANYbotics. After graduating in robotics from EPFL, he joined ANYbotics as a Field Engineer in 2023. He specializes in deploying ANYmal and training customers across all ANYbotics verticals (Oil & Gas, Nuclear, Metals, Chemicals, etc.). Since 2024, as the Global Research Community Manager, he has been working on expanding the ANYmal Research Community and helping world-leading researchers push the boundaries of robotics with ANYmal. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher  

Claire chatted to Josie Gotz from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about robotics for material recovery, reuse and recycling. Josie Gotz is a Senior Research Engineer in the Intelligent Robotics Team at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, she works as the technical lead on a variety of robotics and automation projects from research and development through to integration across a wide variety of manufacturing sectors. She specialises in creating innovative solutions for these industries, combining vision systems and artificial intelligence to build flexible automation systems. Josie has a particular interest in automated disassembly for material recovery, reuse and recycling. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary University of London about soft robotic manipulators for healthcare and manufacturing. Kaspar Althoefer is Director of the Centre for Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). His research focuses on soft robotics, tactile perception, intelligent manipulation, and machine learning techniques for sensor signal interpretation. His research advancements have significant applications in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, rehabilitation, assistive technologies, and human-robot interactions within a range of scenarios, including manufacturing. Before joining QMUL, he was a Professor at King's College London, where he also earned his PhD. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Vali Lalioti from the University of the Arts London about how art, culture and robotics interact. Vali Lalioti is a pioneering designer, computer scientist and innovator. She has a PhD in Computer Science, an MRes in Design and an MBA, and extensive international leadership, research and innovation experience in Silicon Valley, Africa, China, Japan and Europe. Vali is passionate about how technology interacts with society and talks globally on women in tech, art and technology education and her research in societal applications for well-being, healthy ageing and art. She developed the first ever BBC Augmented Reality production in 2003 and has introduced the UK's first Creative Robotics University Degrees. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Patrick Meier from the Climate Robotics Network about how robots can help scale action on climate change. Patrick Meier has 15+ years of leadership and field experience at the intersection of emerging tech, innovation, and social impact. He founded the Climate Robotics Network and currently leads the UK FCDO project on Robotics for Global Development in low- and middle-income countries. Previously, he served as Strategy Lead for Robotics at the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL) and Innovation Booster Robotics. He also co-founded and led WeRobotics, an international technology nonprofit with labs in 40+ countries. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher

Claire chatted to Catherine Menon from the University of Hertfordshire about designing home assistance robots with ethics in mind. Catherine Menon is a principal lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. Her research explores the ethics and safety of autonomous systems, and she has a particular interest in the interaction between safety requirements, ethical imperatives and trust constraints in public-facing AI including assistive robots. She has previously worked as a safety-critical systems engineer in the defence and nuclear sectors, and has been involved in producing and validating several international standards for these domains. Join the Robot Talk community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClaireAsher