Overview
The Centre for Vision and Robotics Research specialises in two complementary areas: the analysis and understanding of image, video and other sensor data; and sensing and control for autonomous robotic systems.
The Vision Group
The Vision Group led by Professor Andrew Hunter specialises in a number of application areas, including security surveillance, collision detection systems for vehicles, food technology, medical screening and the care of the elderly. Technologies range from statistical vision through to neural vision systems, including invertebrate-inspired systems. This Group is currently working closely with industrial partners on the development of novel hardware neural network systems. Its surveillance systems are under commercial development with partners in the USA, and it is developing similar methods for medical and social applications, including monitoring vulnerable people such as the aged at home, detecting anomalous sleep patterns for sufferers from sleep apnoea, and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and other diseases of the retina.
The Robotics Group
The Robotics Group led by Dr Tom Duckett specialises in autonomous systems such as mobile and interactive robots that live together with people in natural indoor and outdoor environments. This research includes the creation of enabling technologies as well as their integration into solutions to address societal challenges. Current research is focused around several directions, including mobile robotics, learning and adaptation, machine perception, and social robotics. The Group has a number of research platforms including an all-terrain vehicle, an aerial robot, various interaction robots, a team of cleaning robots, and a collection of mobile surveillance robots.
Please see the Lincoln Robotics website for further information on our research.
The Centre has a wide range of national and international sponsors, from Research Councils to companies, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Trade Strategy Board, the US Homeland Security Department, the NHS, the Potato Council, and a number of small and medium size enterprises.