Science Museum collaboration brings robotics to the forefront of the public’s imagination



The IET Robotics and Mechatronics Network has been working closely with the Science Museum to host a number of high profile talks and workshops.



The network is building a strong relationship with the Science Museum through collaborative events that aim to inform and inspire the public about robotics.



Claire Rocks, the network’s chair, has been working closely with the museum over the last few years and so when it began to plan several robotics-based activities to build up momentum for its forthcoming six-month You Robot exhibition (set to launch in 2015 or 2106), it turned to the IET.



The museum explained that it was looking to run a series of events focused on robotics entitled Robot Safari and the IET began working closely with staff there to deliver a lecture and a series of short professional talks for one of its adults-only open evenings entitled ‘lates’ on November 27th. It also put together and ran several workshops over the following two days.



“We were keen to see the network get involved in this big coming together of European robotics in different ways,” says Claire. “Committee member Mark Witkowski got involved in arranging the professional talks and myself and committee member Nick Hawes got involved in the workshops taking place around the upcoming exhibition.”



The lecture event, entitled Robots Like Us, was an hour-long talk where guest speaker Murray Shanahan, Professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London, discussed ‘what would it take to make robots as intelligent as humans?’.