Pint of Robotics: Alexia Toumpa, Luke Tinsley, and Ariana Mazzotta

Speaker 1: Alexia Toumpa (School of Computing, University of Leeds)

Bio: Alexia is a final year PhD student within the School of Computing at the University of Leeds, supervised by Prof. Tony Cohn, and a Researcher at Procter & Gamble. Prior to that, she was a Junior Researcher at the lab of Advanced Robotics at the Italian Institute of Technology, having obtained a M.Eng. of Computer Engineering from the University of Patras in Greece. Her recent research lies in the intersection of Knowledge Representation, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics. Her PhD focuses on learning and predicting object affordances and interactions, using Machine Learning and high-level qualitative representations, for solving tasks such as open-world object categorization and future interaction anticipation in human-robot collaboration scenarios.

Speaker 2: Luke Tinsley (School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds)

Title: Fabricating soft robots with high resolution selective plasma treatment

Bio: Luke is a research assistant in the Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group. His research is focussed on the development of automated, scalable, computer-controlled manufacturing processes for the creation of state-of-the-art soft robots.

Abstract: Current manufacturing processes used to create soft robots impose limitations on their performance, the applications they are suitable for, and their transition from laboratory demonstrators to commercial use. Template based methods, such as moulding or casting, restrict geometry and are inefficient for iterative design or device personalisation. Meanwhile, 3D printing methods are only capable of processing a narrow range of materials, with low resolution and long unit production times. This talk will introduce a novel fabrication approach, high resolution selective plasma treatment. First discussing the fundamental principles, and how they can be exploited to efficiently create complex multi-material soft robots in minutes. Following this the bespoke apparatus constructed to explore these conceptswill be demonstrated, along with the soft actuators made using this system.

Speaker 3: Arianna Mazzotta (School of Mechanical Engineering)

Title: Conformable thermally actuated electronic devices

Bio: Ariana is a Biomedical Engineer from Italy and she is currently in the 3rd year of the PhD in Biorobotics, carried out in Pisa (Italy), both at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and the Italian Institute of Technology. She had the great opportunity to spend 4 months at the University of Leeds, in the Future Manufacturing Process Research Group.

Abstract: Conformable electronics comprise a class of devices that can adhere to non-flat surfaces – such ashuman skin – without changing their properties and performance. In recent years, the ability of suchdevices to monitor human physiological signals has been extensively demonstrated. However,another class of conformable devices consists of active platforms which can find use in stimulationrather than recording. My research is mainly