Dyson to launch £5m robotic vision lab at Imperial
Dyson is to invest £5million over the next five years in a joint robotics lab with Imperial College London.
The aim of the Dyson Robotics Laboratory will be to create a generation of robots that can understand the world around them.
The research will focus on advanced sensing, interpretation of environment and robot vision and interaction.
"My generation believed the world would be overrun by robots by the year 2014," said Sir James Dyson. "We now have the mechanical and electronic capabilities, but robots still lack understanding –seeing and thinking in the way we do.
"Mastering this will make our lives easier and lead to previously unthinkable technologies".
Since 2005, Dyson has been working with Imperial to develop machines that use vision to logically navigate their surroundings.
Robotic vacuum cleaners are one area of study, alongside research into other types of domestic robots.
Andrew Davison, a professor of robot vision at Imperial's Department of Computing, will chair the new facility.
He commented: "A truly intelligent domestic robot needs to complete complex everyday tasks while adapting to a constantly changing environment.
"We will research and develop systems that allow machines to both understand and perceive their surroundings – using vision to achieve it."
