News and agenda

A robot that cleans cowsheds. 95 Master Robotics students have been working on this project for the past few weeks. On 13 June, they presented their robots to lecturers and client Lely, manufacturer of automated systems for dairy farmers. The students developed the control software for the robot. It had to avoid cows and other obstacles and navigate itself to places where there is manure.

David Abbink ontvangt dit jaar de NWO Stevinpremie. De Stevinpremie en de Spinozapremie zijn de hoogste Nederlandse onderscheidingen in de wetenschap. Ze worden jaarlijks uitgereikt aan vier mensen in totaal ‘voor hun uitmuntende, baanbrekende en inspirerende werk’, aldus NWO, die dit nieuws vandaag bekend maakt. Abbink ontvangt 1,5 miljoen euro te besteden aan wetenschappelijk onderzoek en kennisbenutting. Hij ontvangt de Stevinpremie met name voor de maatschappelijke impact van zijn onderzoek.

Will robots in the future know if a human has seen them and let them know this as well? If it’s up to TU Delft professor Joost de Winter, the answer is yes. He is working on contactless interaction between humans and machines. The ultimate goal is to merge human and robotic information processing. In his inaugural address on 7 June, De Winter will take you through the various aspects of his research but also shed light on the growing role of AI in science and education.

From robots that stock shelves to aid during post-stroke rehabilitation, and from autonomous drones to self-driving cars. All these and more robots can now be found under one roof at TU Delft. On 17 April, the Cognitive Robotics department will open its brand-new lab where not only robots, but also researchers and technicians will come together. This should encourage cross-pollination of knowledge and creative solutions and take research into robotics to the next level.

How can robots help in the health & care sector?

Self-driving cars still have a number of hurdles to overcome. Reducing motion sickness is a crucial factor in this respect.

TU Delft receives a total of 17 Venis, 4 of which are awarded to researchers at the 3mE faculty. The funds will be used for a variety of research projects, from giving robots the intelligence to handle deformable objects to a catheter that ensures safer minimal invasive heart surgery.

Can ChatGPT also design a robot? And is this a good thing for the design process, or are there risks? TU Delft researchers published their findings in Nature Machine Intelligence.