Essex Innovation Centre
The Essex Innovation Centre (essex.ai) operates as a long-term strategic partnership between the University of Essex and TWI, with the aim of developing a financially sustainable research facility for one of the hottest research topics globally, drawing on Essex's existing strengths to complement and underpin the applied research and development activities of TWI.
Objectives
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Create a shared research and technology facility
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Undertake joint research programmes
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Secure a portfolio of research funding from external sponsors
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Build a mutual understanding of future research challenges and opportunities
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Develop the next generation of technologies and scientists
Core areas
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Soft robotics incuding grasping control, reinforcement learning, skills acquisition and transfer
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Machine learning algorithm development for image integration, data interpretation and robotic control
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Sim2Real - transferring learned agents in simulation in a real setup environment
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Robotic systems and software integration
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Process automation and optimisation
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Lifecycle (cost) analysis frameworks