NETWORKPLUS: UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Plus (UK-RAS+)
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
The EPSRC UK-RAS (Robotics and Autonomous Systems) Network (http://ukras.org.uk) was established in 2015 and since its formation, it has provided academic and administrative leadership that has helped transform the UK's robotics research landscape, bringing the RAS community together, strengthening areas of national importance and creating stronger links between academia, industry and government funding bodies. Coordination of public engagement activities and support to government and policy influencing organisations have led to significant investment by research funding agencies (e.g. ISCF Robotic for a Safer World initiative, UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems programme), industry and universities, creating a world-leading, national RAS capability. As the importance of RAS, a critical enabling technology across many sectors of value to the UK, grows, it is vital that UK-RAS continues to strengthen the community, and drive the UK towards world leading research excellence in areas which are of national strategic value. UK-RAS+ will reshape current RAS activities to transform three key pillars of the national RAS ecosystem:
i) Identify, establish and strengthen new fundamental research into RAS: We will drive forward low TRL (technology readiness level) research opportunities with the aim of the UK attaining international leadership in emerging transformational areas.
ii) Internationalisation of RAS: We will connect the UK to overseas networks and individuals, with the aim of influencing world-wide policy, enabling the UK to lead strategically important initiatives and benefit from international experience and expertise.
iii) Enabling Early Career Researchers (ECRs): ECRs are the future of RAS capability in the UK. We will develop the right environments and ecosystems to provide opportunity and support for UK ECRs to become world leading academics.
i) Identify, establish and strengthen new fundamental research into RAS: We will drive forward low TRL (technology readiness level) research opportunities with the aim of the UK attaining international leadership in emerging transformational areas.
ii) Internationalisation of RAS: We will connect the UK to overseas networks and individuals, with the aim of influencing world-wide policy, enabling the UK to lead strategically important initiatives and benefit from international experience and expertise.
iii) Enabling Early Career Researchers (ECRs): ECRs are the future of RAS capability in the UK. We will develop the right environments and ecosystems to provide opportunity and support for UK ECRs to become world leading academics.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Lorraine (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM (Collaboration)
- University of Leeds (Collaboration)
- Wageningen University & Research (Collaboration)
- Johns Hopkins University (Collaboration)
- KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (Collaboration)
- Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) (Collaboration)
- University of Lincoln (Collaboration)
- University of Surrey (Collaboration)
- ETH Zurich (Collaboration)
- Queen's University Belfast (Collaboration)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Additive Manufacturing UK (Collaboration)
Publications
Bai X
(2026)
Spherical multi-directional eddy current sensor for robotic profiling of metallic edge surfaces
in Measurement
Fei H
(2026)
Large-Language-Model-Aided Assistive Robot for Single-Operator Bimanual Teleoperation: Introduction and Validation of a Flexible Assistance System
in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine
Fei H
(2025)
Large language model-driven natural language interaction control framework for single-operator bimanual teleoperation
in Frontiers in Robotics and AI
Herrera-Ubaldo L
(2026)
Innovative Agricultural Technologies - Proceedings of IAT Congress 2025
Holthaus P
(2026)
BPM-HRI: Best Practices and Methods in HRI Research
Lin S
(2026)
SMART-PIPEBOT: A soft pipe-climbing robot with woodpecker tail-inspired support mechanism for single-sidewall adhesion
in Biomimetic Intelligence and Robotics
Zhu F
(2025)
Pose control and profile tracking with eddy current sensor and robotic arm for NDT applications
in NDT & E International
| Description | - We have awarded small grants to researcher in our network across three funding streams. There focus on our core Research Pillars: Low-TRL development; Internationalisation; Enabling ECRs. In total, £188,000 was allocated to 25 projects, which have resulted in or are leading to publications, prototypes and grant applications for follow-on funding. - There have been four webinars on internationalisation with invited speakers from around the world discussing the latest themes and issues in Robotics. The recordings have been added to our website and YouTube channel. - Our mentoring initiative was a great success with over 20 ECRs paired with mentors to advise on areas such as career pathways in academia and developing grant applications. The scheme will be renewed in 2026 with a new cohort of mentees. - Our Engineering Educates programme continues to expand to inspire the next generation of robotics engineers across a wide range of sectors. Pitched at 7-14 year olds, it is aligned to curriculum learning in Design & Technology, Science, Computing and Literacy. Since the last report, the number of pupils reached has doubled from 32,590 to 64,130. The number of schools engaging with the programme has also doubled from 251 to 509. The team has also made efforts to increase its international reach and the Robotics Challenges have now been used in 15 countries, including Vietnam, Serbia and Spain. |
| Exploitation Route | The UK-RAS network will apply for funding from 2027 to further collaboration and research in Robotics in the UK and internationally. We are aiming to update on core Pillars to ensure the network meets the challenges of the future, while also building on the work undertaken so far in low-TRL development and strengthening the capacity of our Early Career Researchers in our network. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Electronics Energy Government Democracy and Justice Security and Diplomacy |
| URL | http://www.uk-ras.org.uk |
| Description | Input to the Department of Health and Social Care |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Collaboration between Cranfield University, MIT and ETH Zurich funded by UK-RAS. |
| Organisation | ETH Zurich |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UK-RAS will provide funding of £1945 for the collaboration project through the UK-RAS Ad-Hoc funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Namhoon Cho from Cranfield University will lead the collaboration activities in the area of autonomous systems powered by artificial intelligence technologies. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between Cranfield University, MIT and ETH Zurich funded by UK-RAS. |
| Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Department | Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UK-RAS will provide funding of £1945 for the collaboration project through the UK-RAS Ad-Hoc funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Namhoon Cho from Cranfield University will lead the collaboration activities in the area of autonomous systems powered by artificial intelligence technologies. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between Lancaster University and University of Lorraine funded by UK-RAS |
| Organisation | University of Lorraine |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UK-RAS will provide funding of £2K for the collaboration project through the UK-RAS Ad-Hoc funding scheme. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Ziwei Wang from the University of Lancaster will lead the research collaboration with Prof Ivaldi at the NRIA Centre at University of Lorraine. The collaboration will focus on "Human-Centric Multi-Contact Teleoperation of Humanoid Robots. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and UCLA funded by the UK-RAS network. |
| Organisation | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UK-RAS will provide funding of £2000 for the collaboration project through the UK-RAS Ad-Hoc funding scheme. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Kartikeya Walia from Nottingham Trent University will lead the research collaboration focused on the Assembly Complexity Index with researchers at UCLA. |
| Impact | No outcomes to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between The University of Exeter and Additive Manufacturing UK funded by UK-RAS |
| Organisation | Additive Manufacturing UK |
| Department | Additive Manufacturing UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | UK-RAS will provide funding of £2000 for the collaboration project through the UK-RAS Ad Hoc funding stream. The collaboration includes representation from academics from UK-RAS member institutions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Jingchao Jiang from the University of Exeter will lead a workshop on robotics in manufacturing for sustainability with a view to establishing a special interest group in this area. The project will include presentations from UK-RAS academics from The University of Manchester, The University of Birmingham, early career researchers and the head of Additive Manufacturing UK. |
| Impact | No Outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between The University of Manchester and TU Delft funded by the UK-RAS network. |
| Organisation | Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UK-RAS will provide funding of £1,997 for the collaboration project through the UK-RAS Ad-Hoc funding scheme. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Li from The University of Manchester will lead the collaboration project focussed on Advancing Human-Robot Collaboration for Deformable Materials with researchers at TU Delft. |
| Impact | No outputs to date |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between University of Lincoln and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) funded by the UK-RAS network |
| Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Through collaborative work with Wageningen University & Research (WUR), we examined how pushing interactions and uncertainty-aware active vision (e.g. next-best-view planning) could be combined to improve reconstruction of occluded plant structures. |
| Collaborator Contribution | WUR led on dissemination activities comprised invited talks, internal presentations, and discussions with international experts on Interactive Perception during IROS 2025 conference and workshop. A collaborative international workshop (ICRA 2025) proposal was also prepared. |
| Impact | Publications: • Dang, R.; Yilmaz, A.; Cielniak, G. (2025). Plant2Sim3D: From Real Plants to Simulated Worlds via Video-Driven 3D Mesh Generation. IROS 2025 Workshop On Agricultural Robotics: Advances in Design, Perception and Control to Deal With the Complex Agricultural Environment • Herrera-Ubaldo, L., Espejel Flores, J. P., Soriano, L., Cielniak, G., Guevara, L., & Yilmaz, A. (2025). Physically realistic digital replica of strawberry plants for robotic harvesting. In Proceedings of the Innovative Agricultural Technologies Congress (IAT 2025), 15-19 October 2025, Antalya, Türkiye. • Yilmaz, A., Sheikh Sofla, M., Calisti, M., & Cielniak, G. (2025). Visual-haptic fusion for stiffness estimation of delicate objects using a soft whisker system. Preprint. Software repository: • Including a simulated benchmark and integration of the active vision component (Burusa et al., 2024), currently, access is limited to the WUR/UOL team, as it is still in development. Scientific visits: • Abdurrahman Yilmaz (ECR from UOL) at Wageningen University and Research, 5 weeks, 1/7/2025 - 5/8/2025: research visit (see attached report for details) • Grzegorz Cielniak (PI from UOL) at WUR, 1 day, 7/5/2025: initial visit • Grzegorz Cielniak at WUR, 2 weeks, 8/9/2025 - 19/9/2025: final visit • Grzegorz Cielniak IROS conference and workshop on agricultural robotics 20-24/10/2025: analysis of the state of the art in interactive perception Reports and presentations: • "Towards interactive robotic perception in agriculture", presentation for the WUR team at the beginning of the project (7/5/2025), including a short survey of key existing papers in the area of interactive perception. • A collaborative workshop proposal "Workshop on Agricultural Robotics: Dealing with the complex agricultural environment", which includes interactive perception submitted for ICRA2024 developed by Kootstra and Cielniak during the visit. Includes a key partnership with Uni Bonn who work on this area (Yao et al., 2024) • Abdurrahman Yilmaz gave a talk at ABE (WUR team) fortnightly group meeting event on 17/07/2025 |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Leeds and Johns Hopkins University on Robot-Assisted Ophthalmic Surgery funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | Johns Hopkins University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £12,404.85 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Dominic Jones from the University of Leeds will lead the research activities, including reporting and publications. Prof. Peter Kazanzides from Johns Hopkins University will contribute to the robotic implementation phase. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Leeds and Johns Hopkins University on Robot-Assisted Ophthalmic Surgery funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Department | School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering Leeds |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £12,404.85 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Dominic Jones from the University of Leeds will lead the research activities, including reporting and publications. Prof. Peter Kazanzides from Johns Hopkins University will contribute to the robotic implementation phase. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Lincoln and University of Nottingham on unstructured Human-Robot Interactions funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | University of Lincoln |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £15,746.64 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Francesco Del Duchetto from the University of Lincoln will manage the overall project and supervise Research Assistant, lead the design, development of the learning framework and generation of academic outputs, as well as support analysis, implementation and evaluation of solutions. He will lead the planning and delivery of community engagement activities. Dr Athanasios Polydoros from the University of Lincoln will contribute to the project by providing expertise on the development of learning from demonstration control policy, the pre-processing of data gathered from demonstrations and the implementation of the control policy on the robotic system. Dr Ayse Kucukyilmaz from the University of Nottingham will contribute to the overall concept, provide input for the experiments and will be involved in data analysis and output generation. She will also organise the end-of-project workshop in the CoBot Maker Space at Nottingham. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Lincoln and University of Nottingham on unstructured Human-Robot Interactions funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | University of Nottingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £15,746.64 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Francesco Del Duchetto from the University of Lincoln will manage the overall project and supervise Research Assistant, lead the design, development of the learning framework and generation of academic outputs, as well as support analysis, implementation and evaluation of solutions. He will lead the planning and delivery of community engagement activities. Dr Athanasios Polydoros from the University of Lincoln will contribute to the project by providing expertise on the development of learning from demonstration control policy, the pre-processing of data gathered from demonstrations and the implementation of the control policy on the robotic system. Dr Ayse Kucukyilmaz from the University of Nottingham will contribute to the overall concept, provide input for the experiments and will be involved in data analysis and output generation. She will also organise the end-of-project workshop in the CoBot Maker Space at Nottingham. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Lincoln and Wageningen University and Research on interactive robotic perception funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | University of Lincoln |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £11,243.7 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Grzegorz Cielniak from the University of Lincoln will oversee the management and technical development of the project, including conducting in-person experimental studies at WUR. Assoc. Prof. Gert Kootstra from Wageningen University and Research will provide support, along with robotic equipment and workspace at WUR, for the University of Lincoln's team to conduct experiments. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Lincoln and Wageningen University and Research on interactive robotic perception funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £11,243.7 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Grzegorz Cielniak from the University of Lincoln will oversee the management and technical development of the project, including conducting in-person experimental studies at WUR. Assoc. Prof. Gert Kootstra from Wageningen University and Research will provide support, along with robotic equipment and workspace at WUR, for the University of Lincoln's team to conduct experiments. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration between the University of Surrey and Human Robotix Ltd on Physical Human-Robot Interaction funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | University of Surrey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £15,708.85 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Research Activities funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Sajeeva Abeywardena from the University of Surrey will lead the research activities, including reports and publications. Human Robotix will provide an in-kind contribution, including personnel hours and access to the HRX-1 robot for the study, with a cash equivalent value of £12,000. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration with King's College London on human sensorimotor neuroscience funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £15,916.94 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Topic Groups funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Ildar Farkhatdinov from King's College London will lead the establishment of a UK research interest group in robotics and mechatronics engineering for human sensorimotor neuroscience. Activities will include hosting the group's main networking and research event in London. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Collaboration with Queen's University Belfast on BioRobotics funded by the UKRAS |
| Organisation | Queen's University Belfast |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKRAS will provide funding of £13,188 for the collaboration project through the UKRAS Topic Groups funding stream. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Mien Van from Queen's University Belfast will lead the establishment of a UK research interest group in Bio-Inspired Robotics Design and Development. Activities will include hosting the group's meetings and workshop. |
| Impact | No outputs to date. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Mentoring Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A mentoring programme has been established to connect mentees and mentors (all voluntary participants). Mentees are from 13 different universities nationally and mentors are from 7 different universities and 3 industries. The UK-RAS Network provided £1300 of funding for the mentoring programme, providing training from The Aware Leader to enable the success of the programme and for mentors and mentees to have successful and meaningful conversations and outcomes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| Description | Travel Awards |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | UK-RAS Network provided 6 awards of the value of £150 for under-represented groups in Robotics to support early career researchers (ECRs) attending TAROS 2024. Awardees were from: York University, Nottingham Trent University, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Kings College London and Lincoln University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | UK-RAS Showcase Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The showcase had 171 attendees from across multiple universities, institutes and industries as well as members of the public. Specifically this was made up of individuals from 32 different universities and 30 different industries. The showcase allowed for engagement from industry and academics which individuals could be part of key discussions for their own development and for the future of the network. The showcase also allowed for presentations of new funding streams and opportunities for future engagement and outreach. The network had funding applications which allowed them to meet the full expected expenditure for the associated period. The showcase was centred around the UK-RAS Networks 3 key pillars: 1. Identifying, establishing and strengthening new fundamental research into RAS: We will drive forward low TRL (technology readiness level) research opportunities. 2. Internationalisation of RAS: We will connect the UK to overseas networks and individuals, with the aim of influencing world-wide policy. 3. Enabling Early Career Researchers (ECRs): We will develop the right environments and support to enable UK ECRs to become world leading academics. This was conducted through various talks and sessions as listed below: Opening messages: EPRSC message - Dr Cameron Ross (Senior Portfolio Manager EPSRC). QUANSER - Innovate . Educate - Mr Paul Gilbert (CEO QUANSER). Networking, Posters (poster prizes awarded) and Robotics Demonstrations Session 1 - Current Large Robotics Programmes in the UK. - EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and AI for Net Zero (RAINZ) - Dr Simon Watson (University of Manchester) - From Sensing to Collaboration: Engineering, Exploring and Exploiting the Building Blocks of Embodied Intelligence - Prof Ingmar Posner (University of Oxford) - The Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (RAICo) - Dr Kirsty Hewitson. (UKAEA) - Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-Lasting Environments (CRADLE) - Mr Michael Oates, Robotics Specialist, Jacobs and Ms Kayleigh Jackson, Industry Project Manager CRADLE, Delivery and Exploitation. Session 2 - Outreach and Mentoring: - UK-RAS Outreach - Engineering Educates call to action - Prof Lynne Bianchi (Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub [SEERIH]) - UK-RAS Mentoring programme - Prof Andy Weightman (Co-Chair UK-RAS) Session 3 - • Panel discussion - Developing International collaborations: - euROBOTICS - Mr Rich Walker (Board Member at euROBOTICS). - Prof Marc Hanheide - Chair of Intelligent Robotics and Interactive Systems, University of Lincoln. - Mr Rich Walker - Board Member euROBOTICS, Shadow Robot company. - Dr Simon Watson, Reader in Robotic Systems, The University of Manchester. - Prof Yiannis Demiris - Chair of Human-Centred Robotics, Imperial College London. - Ms Kayleigh Jackson - Industry Project Manager CRADLE, Delivery and Exploitation Session 4 - Early Career Researchers: - Planning your career - Dr Sarah Ashworth - Researcher Developer, The University of Manchester. - Robotics Inclusive - Alex Schutz, University of Oxford, and Edith-Clare Hall, University of Bristol. Session 5 - Fundamental low-TRL discussion - Ms Deborah Dalley |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://uk-ras.org.uk/uk-ras-showcase-manchester-thursday-12th-september/ |