ARIA
ARIA
ARIA
Created by an Act of Parliament, and sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, ARIA will fund projects across the full spectrum of R&D disciplines, approaches, and institutions.
ARIA’s programmes and projects are directed by our Programme Directors, scientific and technical leaders with deep expertise and a focused, creative vision for how technology can enable a better future.
ARIA Robotics
ARIA's Smarter Robot Bodies initiative, directed by Jenny Read, provides funding for projects that push the boundaries of robotic hardware.
Our £53 million Robot Dexterity Programme, within ARIA's Smarter Robot Bodies initiative, funds breakthroughs in robotic hardware for transformative dexterity improvements. We also support research in modularity, interoperability, and the socio-economic impacts of robotics.
The robot dexterity programme will focus on improving robotic dexterity primarily through advances in hardware. We plan to support development of new modes of sensing, transmission of sensory information, and actuation through hardware advances that benefit from co-design and integration with advanced software and controls.
In the early stages of the programme, we anticipate funding advances in individual components, e.g. actuation or sensing, in isolation. In later stages, we would combine advances made both within and beyond the programme to develop new manipulators, demonstrating a paradigm-shift in robotic abilities and establishing the basis for a powerful new industry that can help society better address the labour challenges of tomorrow.
The are currently in the final stages of selecting projects to fund, they are likely to kick-off towards the end of this year or early next year.
We also recently closed a call for funding for our 'Smarter Robot Bodies’ Seeds, providing up to £500k (per project) to support high potential ideas that sit outside the robot dexterity space. These ideas aim to exploit progress in AI, control, materials, and manufacturing to produce improved robotic hardware that approaches or even exceeds the capabilities of living bodies.
Facilitating modularity, interoperability, and common standards within robotics:
We have also launched a solicitation calling for an expert comitte to support work in facilitating modularity, interoperability, and common standards within robotics.
Through the support of this comitte we’re seeking to gain clarity on:
In which areas would improved software and hardware modularity lead to major time and cost savings?
Which bodies need to be convened in order to facilitate breakthroughs in these three areas?
- Which specific standards are required and who is best placed to create them?