Robots are rapidly emerging in society and will soon enter our homes to collaborate and help us in daily life. Robots that provide social and physical assistance have huge potential to benefit society, especially for those who are frail and dependent. This was evident during the Covid-19 outbreak, where assistive robots could aid in the care of older adults at risk, in accessing contaminated areas, and providing social assistance to people in isolation.
Autonomous systems are technologies, ranging from software algorithms to robots, which can make independent decisions with varying levels of human control and learn and change their behaviour. These systems have the potential to immensely transform both society and industry (e.g., health, transport, communications and manufacturing).
The TAS programme is a major £33M UKRI/SPF investment (Community-led, result of the EPSRC Big Ideas Challenge) that consists of the hub (£11.7M, £4M is to be dedicated to pump-priming projects) will coordinate seven research nodes (£3M each)