It’s not your typical research lab, it’s a makerspace.
Nik Watson Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Nottingham
The Space
The Cobot Maker Space is a 99m² facility that offers ultramodern robots and equipment to explore and design human-robot interaction. The space is supported by a diverse, interdisciplinary team of researchers and academics at the University of Nottingham.
Based in the Nottingham Geospatial Building, the Cobot Maker Space consists of:
The Lab Space – offering flexible space to assemble, trial and research ideas our lab is fitted with biometric sensors, data processing facilities and recording equipment – for instant switching between making and researching.
The Workshop – equipped with a range of tools and a 3D printer to support rapid prototyping.
The Living Space – this resembles the appearance of an office or living room, this space allows people to test their ideas in an everyday environment.
The Ward Room – set up like a private hospital room or nursing home environment.
The Museum Room – set up like a small side room in a museum with the scope to move around and customise the environment.
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Create.
Opportunities, futures, value.
We design, research and make with an open, critical mindset, constantly reflecting and refining our own practises.
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Connect.
People, groups, businesses.
We are an interdisciplinary, vibrant research community that is ready to meet you.
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Collaborate.
Ideas, projects, relationships.
Collaboration sits at the very core of everything we do. Our transparency and openness will connect researchers, entrepreneurs and actively build community.
The Mission
Working and living with robots may sound like it is taken straight from a science-fiction novel, but cobots are already a reality - especially in hazardous contexts and manufacturing: Cobots often support people with tasks that are uncomfortable, repetitive or even impossible, such as holding and moving heavy materials or surveying inaccessible areas. Effectively, cobots can bridge gaps in our senses, augment our own capabilities and compliment them.
Considering the technological progress within robotics and consumer electronics, encountering cobots as a part of our everyday life is a certainty. The Cobot Maker Space was founded to explore this potential further; both to research what can be possible right now, and to think ahead. We are not only a research environment, but also a space for tinkering, making and breaking technology.
Create, Connect and Collaborate.
The Equipment
The Cobot Maker Space consists of 4 readily configurable labs to provide flexibility to create and tailor environments and is equipped with mobile robots and state of the art human sensing technologies for prototyping and assembling novel devices.
The main lab area is where we house our robots, including service robots Robin and Spot. Also available are Franka arms, a UV disinfection robot, a UR3E robot arm with grippers, reconfigurable cameras with audio recording, and biometric sensing facilities. Our workshop area is equipped with a 3D printer, soldering facilities and a vast range of tools.
Our Living Space has been set up to resemble a standard home environment where we can deploy a variety of digitally enhanced products to enable exploration and interaction between people and intelligent systems.
The ward room has an adjustable bed, accesibility hoist, and other items that you would expect to find in a care environment. This allows technologies to be tested in a simulated environment before deployment in live environments.
The musuem room is a configurable room with a library of museum style furniture and audio-visual equipment that can be laid out to the needs of the user.
