Morphological computation of perception and action
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Design Engineering (Dyson School)
Abstract
Living beings share the same embodiment for sensing and action. For instance, the spindle sensors that provide the feeling of a joint angle and speed are embedded on the muscles that actuate this joint. The tendon sensors that provide the feeling of force too are directly involved in actuation of the joint. Do the function of these sensors change when the muscles are activated to take action? Does the co-activation of antagonistic muscles play a role not only in actuation, but also in perception? This project will investigate these questions through targeted experiments with human participants and controllable stiffness soft robots that provide greater access to internal variables.
Recent experiments we have conducted on localising hard nodules in soft tissues using soft robotic probes have shown that tuning the stiffness of the probe can maximise information gain of perceiving the hard nodule. We have also noticed that human participants use distinct force-velocity modulation strategies in the same task of localising a hard nodule in a soft tissue using the index finger. This raises the question as to whether we can find quantitative criteria to control the internal impedance of a soft robotic probe to maximise the efficacy of manipulating a soft object to perceive its hidden properties like in physical examination of a patient's abdomen.
In this project, we will thus use carefully designed probing tasks done by both human participants and a soft robotic probe with controllable stiffness to access various levels of measurable information such as muscle co-contraction, change of speed and force, to test several hypotheses about the role of internal impedance in perception and action. Finally, we will use a human-robot collaborative physical examination task to test the effectiveness of a new soft robotic probe with controllable stiffness together with its stiffness and behaviour control algorithms. We will design and fabricate the novel soft robotic probe so that we can control the stiffness of its soft tissue in which sensors will be embedded to obtain embodied haptic perception. We will also design and fabricate a novel soft abdomen phantom with controllable stiffness internal organs to conduct palpation experiments. The innovation process of the above two designs - the novel probe and the abdomen phantom - will be done in collaboration with three leading industrial partners in the respective areas. The new insights will make a paradigm shift in the way we design soft robots that can share the controllable stiffness embodiment for both perception and action in a number of applications like remote medical interventions, robotic proxies in shopping, disaster response, games, museums, security screening, and manufacturing.
Recent experiments we have conducted on localising hard nodules in soft tissues using soft robotic probes have shown that tuning the stiffness of the probe can maximise information gain of perceiving the hard nodule. We have also noticed that human participants use distinct force-velocity modulation strategies in the same task of localising a hard nodule in a soft tissue using the index finger. This raises the question as to whether we can find quantitative criteria to control the internal impedance of a soft robotic probe to maximise the efficacy of manipulating a soft object to perceive its hidden properties like in physical examination of a patient's abdomen.
In this project, we will thus use carefully designed probing tasks done by both human participants and a soft robotic probe with controllable stiffness to access various levels of measurable information such as muscle co-contraction, change of speed and force, to test several hypotheses about the role of internal impedance in perception and action. Finally, we will use a human-robot collaborative physical examination task to test the effectiveness of a new soft robotic probe with controllable stiffness together with its stiffness and behaviour control algorithms. We will design and fabricate the novel soft robotic probe so that we can control the stiffness of its soft tissue in which sensors will be embedded to obtain embodied haptic perception. We will also design and fabricate a novel soft abdomen phantom with controllable stiffness internal organs to conduct palpation experiments. The innovation process of the above two designs - the novel probe and the abdomen phantom - will be done in collaboration with three leading industrial partners in the respective areas. The new insights will make a paradigm shift in the way we design soft robots that can share the controllable stiffness embodiment for both perception and action in a number of applications like remote medical interventions, robotic proxies in shopping, disaster response, games, museums, security screening, and manufacturing.
Planned Impact
Academic impact: We will make academic impacts in three major areas in addition to extended impacts in groups of identified areas. First the findings in morphological computation (how the mechanical circuits of the embodiment contributes to the computation of perception and action, and their mapping from one to another) will shed new light on how the stiffness of a shared embodiment between perception and action can help to improve information gain in perception while improving the robustness of action. This will take research in soft robotics in a new path, because so far the attention has predominantly being on the role of embodiment in action. We will also contribute new technologies in soft grippers and probes that can regulate the stiffness of the embodiment to suit the task specific perception and action requirements. This project will also make new findings in human motor control related to the common mediation of muscle co-contraction in perception and action. So far there has been a heavy emphasis on the central nervous system as a direct mediator of perception and action, and the computational motor control community has given full credit of motor control to the brain. This project will challenge that norm with experiments done to find the role of indirect involvement of the central nervous system to regulate perception and action through joint impedance control.
Other scientific engagements: In addition to the main areas of scientific contributions, we will bring together a diverse group of scientists in biology and soft robotics to explore questions about the possible projections from neural based computational plasticity to regulate a common embodiment to improve perception and action on long-term morphological adaptation to reduce the burden on the central nervous system to perform repetitive computational tasks. Moreover, the engagement with the telecommunication research community will help us to make an impact on the future "haptic internet" where we will have efficient communication protocols to perform remote physical examinations with real-time haptic feedback with guarantees on safety.
Industrial and clinical impact: There is an increasing demand for soft robotic grippers and probes in surgery, agriculture, remote healthcare, museums, tele-shopping, games, and aviation. The scientific contributions to introduce new ways to improve perception and action through a shared controllable stiffness embodiments together with novel ways to design and fabricate soft grippers/probes for physical examination of soft tissue will make a disruptive shift in the practice of the soft robotics industry.
Social impact: The project will contribute to a broad social discussion on how soft robots can be used in our daily lives as well as to understand our own bodies through engaging students and robot enthusiasts in scientific exhibitions, information on our websites, and meetings in the London Robotics Network.
Impact on students and RAs: The postgraduate students associated with this project and the directly employed RAs will have the opportunity to teach and conduct public engagement workshops. We have budgeted for their travel to major international conferences to promote their visibility and to facilitate networking. Following our previous experiences, we have planned to integrate technological innovations in this project to formal teaching practice of robotics, neuroscience, and general practitioner training.
Open access data: Following positive experiences of releasing open access data based on previous EPSRC funded projects, we will release anonymised physical examination behavioural data with proper guides to use them for research purposes. This will engage a broad academic community interested in related research areas.
Other scientific engagements: In addition to the main areas of scientific contributions, we will bring together a diverse group of scientists in biology and soft robotics to explore questions about the possible projections from neural based computational plasticity to regulate a common embodiment to improve perception and action on long-term morphological adaptation to reduce the burden on the central nervous system to perform repetitive computational tasks. Moreover, the engagement with the telecommunication research community will help us to make an impact on the future "haptic internet" where we will have efficient communication protocols to perform remote physical examinations with real-time haptic feedback with guarantees on safety.
Industrial and clinical impact: There is an increasing demand for soft robotic grippers and probes in surgery, agriculture, remote healthcare, museums, tele-shopping, games, and aviation. The scientific contributions to introduce new ways to improve perception and action through a shared controllable stiffness embodiments together with novel ways to design and fabricate soft grippers/probes for physical examination of soft tissue will make a disruptive shift in the practice of the soft robotics industry.
Social impact: The project will contribute to a broad social discussion on how soft robots can be used in our daily lives as well as to understand our own bodies through engaging students and robot enthusiasts in scientific exhibitions, information on our websites, and meetings in the London Robotics Network.
Impact on students and RAs: The postgraduate students associated with this project and the directly employed RAs will have the opportunity to teach and conduct public engagement workshops. We have budgeted for their travel to major international conferences to promote their visibility and to facilitate networking. Following our previous experiences, we have planned to integrate technological innovations in this project to formal teaching practice of robotics, neuroscience, and general practitioner training.
Open access data: Following positive experiences of releasing open access data based on previous EPSRC funded projects, we will release anonymised physical examination behavioural data with proper guides to use them for research purposes. This will engage a broad academic community interested in related research areas.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Thrishantha Nanayakkara (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Abad S
(2019)
Significance of the Compliance of the Joints on the Dynamic Slip Resistance of a Bioinspired Hoof
in IEEE Transactions on Robotics
Akhond S
(2019)
A Method to Guide Local Physical Adaptations in a Robot Based on Phase Portraits
in IEEE Access
Costi L
(2021)
Comparative Analysis of Model-Based Predictive Shared Control for Delayed Operation in Object Reaching and Recognition Tasks With Tactile Sensing
in Frontiers in Robotics and AI
Cotugno G
(2018)
Modelling the structure of object-independent human affordances of approaching to grasp for robotic hands.
in PloS one
Cotugno G
(2017)
The Role of the Thumb: Study of Finger Motion in Grasping and Reachability Space in Human and Robotic Hands
in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems
Ge Y
(2022)
Origami Inspired Design for Capsule Endoscope to Retrograde Using Intestinal Peristalsis
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Hamid E
(2021)
A State-Dependent Damping Method to Reduce Collision Force and Its Variability
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
He L
(2021)
A method to 3D print a programmable continuum actuator with single material using internal constraint
in Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
He L
(2023)
Robotic Simulators for Tissue Examination Training With Multimodal Sensory Feedback.
in IEEE reviews in biomedical engineering
He L
(2020)
Soft Fingertips With Tactile Sensing and Active Deformation for Robust Grasping of Delicate Objects
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
He L
(2018)
Granular Jamming Based Controllable Organ Design for Abdominal Palpation.
in Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference
He L
(2022)
3D-Printed Soft Sensors for Adaptive Sensing with Online and Offline Tunable Stiffness.
in Soft robotics
He L
(2021)
An Abdominal Phantom With Tunable Stiffness Nodules and Force Sensing Capability for Palpation Training
in IEEE Transactions on Robotics
Herzig N
(2018)
A Variable Stiffness Robotic Probe for Soft Tissue Palpation
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Herzig N
(2018)
Nonlinear position and stiffness Backstepping controller for a two Degrees of Freedom pneumatic robot
in Control Engineering Practice
Hughes JAE
(2018)
An anthropomorphic soft skeleton hand exploiting conditional models for piano playing.
in Science robotics
Konstantinova J
(2017)
Palpation force modulation strategies to identify hard regions in soft tissue organs
in PLOS ONE
Lalitharatne T
(2021)
MorphFace: A Hybrid Morphable Face for a Robopatient
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Lalitharatne T
(2020)
Facial Expression Rendering in Medical Training Simulators: Current Status and Future Directions
in IEEE Access
Lalitharatne TD
(2022)
Face mediated human-robot interaction for remote medical examination.
in Scientific reports
Leong F
(2022)
A Surrogate Model Based on a Finite Element Model of Abdomen for Real-Time Visualisation of Tissue Stress during Physical Examination Training.
in Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland)
Nanayakkara T
(2021)
Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) 2020
in The International Journal of Robotics Research
Nanayakkara V
(2017)
The Role of Morphology of the Thumb in Anthropomorphic Grasping: A Review
in Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering
Ranasinghe A
(2018)
Human Behavioral Metrics of a Predictive Model Emerging During Robot Assisted Following Without Visual Feedback
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Saar K
(2018)
Model-Free Design Optimization of a Hopping Robot and Its Comparison With a Human Designer
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Sadati S
(2018)
Three-Dimensional-Printable Thermoactive Helical Interface With Decentralized Morphological Stiffness Control for Continuum Manipulators
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Sadati S
(2018)
Control Space Reduction and Real-Time Accurate Modeling of Continuum Manipulators Using Ritz and Ritz-Galerkin Methods
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Sadati S
(2020)
Stiffness Imaging With a Continuum Appendage: Real-Time Shape and Tip Force Estimation From Base Load Readings
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Sadati S
(2020)
TMTDyn : A Matlab package for modeling and control of hybrid rigid-continuum robots based on discretized lumped systems and reduced-order models
in The International Journal of Robotics Research
Sadati S
(2017)
Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems
Sadati S
(2017)
A Geometry Deformation Model for Braided Continuum Manipulators
in Frontiers in Robotics and AI
Scimeca L
(2022)
Action Augmentation of Tactile Perception for Soft-Body Palpation.
in Soft robotics
Scimeca L
(2019)
Model-Free Soft-Structure Reconstruction for Proprioception Using Tactile Arrays
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Scimeca L
(2020)
Structuring of tactile sensory information for category formation in robotics palpation
in Autonomous Robots
Sornkarn N
(2017)
Can a Soft Robotic Probe Use Stiffness Control Like a Human Finger to Improve Efficacy of Haptic Perception?
in IEEE transactions on haptics
Tan X
(2021)
A Soft Pressure Sensor Skin to Predict Contact Pressure Limit Under Hand Orthosis
in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
Tan X
(2020)
A Soft Pressure Sensor Skin for Hand and Wrist Orthoses
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Tan Y
(2022)
Simulating dynamic facial expressions of pain from visuo-haptic interactions with a robotic patient
in Scientific Reports
Wegiriya H
(2020)
A Stiffness Controllable Multimodal Whisker Sensor Follicle for Texture Comparison
in IEEE Sensors Journal
Wijesundera I
(2018)
Predicting the mean first passage time (MFPT) to reach any state for a passive dynamic walker with steady state variability.
in PloS one
Yu Z
(2023)
Tapered whisker reservoir computing for real-time terrain identification-based navigation.
in Scientific reports
Yu Z
(2022)
A Tapered Whisker-Based Physical Reservoir Computing System for Mobile Robot Terrain Identification in Unstructured Environments
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Yu Z
(2022)
A Semi-Supervised Reservoir Computing System Based on Tapered Whisker for Mobile Robot Terrain Identification and Roughness Estimation
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Zhang Qiu P
(2022)
Soft Tissue Characterisation Using a Novel Robotic Medical Percussion Device With Acoustic Analysis and Neural Networks
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
| Description | 1) Stiffness control in a soft robotic probe plays a key role in the haptic information gain by its tendon sensors. This also explains why humans control the finger stiffness during soft tissue examination. 2) Haptic perception and muscle activation are inter-linked. In the case of haptic based guiders, the same amount of leftward and rightward perturbations won't be felt equally by the follower. In the case of medical examination of patients, these insights into how action and perception are coupled will allow us to train medical students better. 5. The tissue abnormality detection process involves first depending mainly on fingertip tactile sensors for search area reduction and then using tendon level haptic feedback to explore details such as the size and the depth of an abnormality. 6. Granular jamming with positive pressure is a viable method to both produce tumor conditions in a robotic abdominal phantom and to use them as sensors to measure palpation forces and positions. We disseminated the outcomes in a series of keynotes and invited talks for an international audience: 23/09/2019: UK/US Bio-inspired Unmanned Autonomous Systems (BioUAS), Plenary talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara, titled "The brain is lazy" highlighting the clever ways it takes to condition the body to simplify autonomous control, London, UK. 27/06/2019: Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) 2019, Plenary workshop talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara on "Embodied computation of perception and action for fast uncertainty reduction", Freiburg, Germany 14/04/2019: IEEE RoboSoft 2019: Plenary workshop talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IEEE RoboSoft 2019 on "Towards the nature of information processing in soft machines", Seoul, South Korea 14/04/2019: IEEE RoboSoft 2019: Workshop organizer and workshop talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IEEE RoboSoft 2019 on "Morphological Computation Through Physical Adaptation of Soft Robots", Seoul, South Korea 24/04/2018: IEEE RoboSoft 2018, Plenary workshop talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IEEE RoboSoft 2018 on "Haptic information gain in the impedance domain", Levorno, Italy 23/05/2018: IEEE ICRA2018, Plenary workshop talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IEEE ICRA2018 on "Brain is the last resort", Brisbane, Australia 27/05/2018: IEEE ICRA2018, Invited workshop talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IEEE ICRA2018 on "Active search for haptic information in the impedance domain", Brisbane, Australia 02/05/2018, University of Leeds, Keynote by Thrishantha Nanayakkara on "Surviving in an uncertain world with slow communication pathways", Leeds, UK 04/10/2018: RCGP-2018, Workshop keynote talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at Royal College of General Practitioners annual conference on "Soft Robotic Patients for Medical Education", Glasgow, UK 17/08/2018: Xuzhuo Central Hospital, Keynote talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at Xuzhou Central Hospital on "Soft Robotics for Rehabilitation", Xuzhou, China 23/08/2018: Jilin University, Keynote talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at International Workshop on Bioinspiration on "Morphological computation - The role of the physical circuits in the body in the computation of perception and action", Jilin, China 11/10/2017: IEEE PIMRC, Plenary keynote talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IEEE PIMRC on "Survival in uncertain environments with slow communication pathways - evidence from morphological computation", Montreal, Canada 12/12/2017: IMechE Christmas event, Keynote talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at IMechE Christmas event - "Tinkering" on "If robots were to survive like living beings in uncertain environments", London, UK 18/12/2017: LIPI workshop, Keynote talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara at Indonesia Institute of Science and technology on "Soft robotics for sustainable rainforest communities", Bandung, Indonesia 10/07/2017: 2nd UK manipulation workshop, Invited talk by Thrishantha Nanayakkara on "Surviving with slow communication pathways", London, UK 23/03/2017: ERU-2017, Co-organizer and speaker in the Workshop on "Haptics for Healthcare", Edinburgh, UK |
| Exploitation Route | 1) Further develop the soft robotic patient with more functionality like breathing, controllable internal organs, and a face that can express pain, as a tool for medical training and to collect examination related data from general practitioners, 2) Extend the soft robotic probe for soft tissue palpation as a tool in the food industry in addition to healthcare applications. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://thrish.org/publications |
| Description | A soft robotic patient is being developed for medical training purposes. The first version was tested with General Practitioners on 22nd February 2018. We further did a workshop in the annual conference of the Royal College of General Practitioners held in Glasgow on 4th August 2018 to engage the broad physician community and they expressed much hope in a future functional robotic patient for training purposes. We have developed controllable soft organs that can present different physiological conditions to a practitioner during a training session. We are now conducting experiments to understand the role of facial expressions of pain together with local muscle tensions in response to pain as additional feedback to train physicians. The work led to further EPSRC funding under the RoboPatient grant. We have improved the sensing and actuation capabilities of the soft robotic internal organs to monitor physical examination behaviors of a trainee. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Title | Data set for PONE-D-17-33558R2 |
| Description | This is the data set for the PloS One paper: Giuseppe Cotugno, Jelizaveta Konstantinova, Kaspar Althoefer, Thrishantha Nanayakkara, Modelling the Structure of Object-Independent Human Affordances of Approaching to Grasp for Robotic Hands, accepted in Plos One, PONE-D-17-33558R2. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Dataset for Conditioned haptic perception for 3D localization of nodules in soft tissue palpation with a variable stiffness probe |
| Description | These data are complementing the following publication:[1] N. Herzig, L. He, P. Maiolino, S-A Abad, and T. Nanayakkara, Conditioned Haptic Perception for 3D localization of Nodules in Soft Tissue Palpation with a Variable Stiffness Probe. PLoS One. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237379These data support our research on a Variable Stiffness Palpation Probe and its control strategy to palpate and detect the location of stiff inclusions in soft tissues.The folder contains a ReadMe file and a binary Matlab file. For more details about the content of the binary file and the data structure, please read the ReadMe file. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Dataset_for_Conditioned_haptic_perception_for_3D_locali... |
| Title | Dataset for Conditioned haptic perception for 3D localization of nodules in soft tissue palpation with a variable stiffness probe |
| Description | These data are complementing the following publication:[1] N. Herzig, L. He, P. Maiolino, S-A Abad, and T. Nanayakkara, Conditioned Haptic Perception for 3D localization of Nodules in Soft Tissue Palpation with a Variable Stiffness Probe. PLoS One. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237379These data support our research on a Variable Stiffness Palpation Probe and its control strategy to palpate and detect the location of stiff inclusions in soft tissues.The folder contains a ReadMe file and a binary Matlab file. For more details about the content of the binary file and the data structure, please read the ReadMe file. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Dataset_for_Conditioned_haptic_perception_for_3D_locali... |
| Description | 2017 Cambridge Workshop on Soft Robotics, Morphological Computation, and Embodied Intelligence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was a 3-day resident workshop to brainstorm ideas and latest advancements in Soft Robotics, Morphological Computation, and Embodied Intelligence in several laboratories in UK. PhD students in my lab got an opportunity to present their work to an audience of key research labs in this area in UK and share thoughts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://thrish.org/2017/2017-cambridge-workshop-on-soft-robotics-morphological-computation-and-embod... |
| Description | A hands on testing session with General Practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In this workshop, General Practitioners examined our soft robotic patient that could present illness conditions like liver abnormalities, and they experienced how the new wrist-mounted haptic feedback system can be used to feel the forces experienced by a remote robotic soft probe examining a soft tissue. A unique feature in this remote examination was that the doctors could control the stiffness of the remote robotic probe by turning a handle. They reported that the stiffness control of the remote soft robotic probe makes a difference in the way they feel a nodule in the remote soft tissue. Moreover, they gave valuable feedback to improve the soft robotic patient and the remote haptic feedback system. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/thrishlab/status/966815438838665216 |
| Description | BBC Radio 4 Bottom Line panel discussion on robots |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Are white collar workers under threat from the new robotic workforce? Manufacturing companies have been replacing production line workers with robots for years, but as the technology becomes more advanced, they are being increasingly used in healthcare, law firms and HR departments. So is the white collar worker under threat? Evan Davis talks to three guests, a roboticist, an Artificial Intelligence consultancy worker and the CEO of a hotel chain who is already using robots in his business. GUESTS Thrishantha Nanayakkara - Roboticist, Imperial College Dr. Michael Chui - Partner, IT and innovation, McKinsey Global Institute Hubert Viriot - CEO, Yotel. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08v8p14?ns_mchannel=social& |
| Description | Creative Quarter 2017 at Imperial College South Kensington campus |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Creative Quarter is a day of free events in South Kensington offering thousands of students between the ages of 13 and 19 the chance to explore work in the creative and STEM industries and careers. At Imperial students could find inspiration through interactive exhibits, demonstration lectures and a series of smaller career insight sessions where they get to meet some of the scientists working at Imperial and hear what it is like to be a science professional. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://thrish.org/2017/thrishlab-at-imperial-creative-quarter-2017/2513 |
| Description | Imperial festival 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | What started as a modest pilot project in 2012 to explore how Imperial College London might share its research with more people in new ways has now evolved into the College's flagship public event. In 2017 more than 20,000 public and alumni visitors descended on Imperial's South Kensington campus to enjoy the interactive stands, workshops, tours, talks and performances on offer. Some lovely reviews from our friends in the media support our belief that the Festival has grown into a great weekend of fun and learning for all the family - with time Timeout London describing it as an "an equation for a good time", the Guardian saying it was "a fascinating event" and the Londonist observing that "whoever programmed this glorious beast must have used hyper-dimensional graph paper". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://thrish.org/2017/our-exhibits-in-the-imperial-robotics-festival-2017/2344 |
| Description | Plenary Keynote speech at IEEE PIMRC-2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | IEEE PIMRC is said to be the largest IEEE mobile communications conference sponsored by top communications companies. Their purpose of inviting me was to know more about how living beings survive in uncertain environments that require fast responses with a central nervous system (CNS) known to have very slow communication fibres (a signal from fingertip to brain takes about 120msec). Most rapid responses cannot be explained using such slow communication pathways. My talk using robotic experimental evidence on the role of fast bodily computers (morphological computers) that work in conjunction with the CNS helped to challenge the conventional notion that the slow CNS is entirely responsible for intelligent behavior. This aligned well with the latest trends in 5G communication where field experts argue that some new decentralized solutions are required to go beyond the current bottlenecks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://pimrc2017.ieee-pimrc.org/program/keynotes/ |
| Description | Talk at Science Museum Lates |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In the science museum lates, adult general public gets a chance to interact with various invited speakers and exhibitors to discuss latest advancements in different fields. In this talk, I explained our latest advancements in the EPSRC funded MOTION project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/lates |