Birmingham Extreme Robotics Lab (ERL)
Our mission is to pursue cutting-edge multi-disciplinary Robotics and AI (RAI) research and apply these methods to real-world engineering problems. In so doing, we aim to benefit end-user stakeholders spanning a range of critical industries.
Our thesis is that real industrial problems, of major societal and economic importance, offer extremely complex intellectual and technical challenges, requiring new research advances that extend well beyond the current state-of-the-art in RAI theory and practice.
The roots of our lab and team originated in our international track record of developing advanced robotics for nuclear and other “extreme” environments, where complex tasks must be performed in zones that are too hazardous for human workers. This includes a number of landmark deployments and world-first achievements of advanced autonomous robotics on nuclear sites.
However, our research advances are in RAI fundamentals. These are generic and widely applicable to numerous other types of industries and applications.
We are always keen to explore new topics and research challenges with new partners from industry and academia.
About the ERL
About the Extreme Robotics Lab
The Extreme Robotics Lab's Sustainable Robotics Centre
The Extreme Robotics Lab's (ERL) full-scale industrial manipulators is housed in an academic research environment which offers an ideal platform for industry-academia collaboration and innovation.
ERL - Our technologies
Birmingham’s Extreme Robotics Lab is market-leading in many of the components needed for the increase in roboticised nuclear operations.
The National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR)
The National Centre for Nuclear Robotics is tasked with finding fresh solutions to the well-established problem of nuclear waste, nuclear decommissioning and the safe disposal of nuclear waste.
The challenge
Nuclear decommissioning and the safe disposal of nuclear waste is a global problem of enormous societal importance.
ERL STEMM outreach
Our lab’s mission is to advance the field of robotics through education and research.