InnoTecUK

InnoTecUK’s Technical Director Professor Gurvinder S. Virk recently had an interview with the Industrial Robot Journal. Details of the interview have been also published on robotics business review to provide intelligence for the global robotics industry.

In his interview, Gurvinder shares his expertise in the field of robotics, control, engineering, and computer science, and discusses the importance of international robot standardisation for robot manufacturers and the wider community.

With regards to his expertise, Gurvinder has for the last 35 years produced over 350 referred publications, filed four patents, been involved with several spin out commercial ventures, led the creation of the first International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) safety standard for personal care robots (EN ISO 13482), presided over the ARGOS Challenge committee to develop autonomous robots for oil and gas production sites and is currently working on wearable exoskeletons aimed at providing affordable solutions to assist elderly persons perform normal daily activities.

It is Gurvinder’s extensive knowledge in robotics that permits him to offer deep insights into how robotic safety standards are formulated and implemented and how the regulatory frame work can be adopted in realising robot products for facilitating safe Human Robot interaction.

In this interview, he describes the best methods for adopting robot safety standards, and goes on to describe how international robot safety standards are administered, the role of manufacturers in robot safety, and what might happen in the event of a robot causing harm in non-safety-compliant robot products.

To read what Gurvinder had to say, click here.

The advent of robots in medicine and healthcare is evolving and proving to be efficient and effective at providing novel solutions for diagnosing and treating patients.  Some medical robots have already impacted positively on the way surgery is conducted.The 'Da Vinci surgical system', a tele-operated medical robot used for prostatectomy (the removal of all, or part of the prostate), was one of the first robotised solutions to be adopted andthe system has been used to conduct over 20,000 surgeries already. The  Da Vinci is helping surgeons carry out precise operations with enhanced vision and more precise control to achieve better clinical outcomes for patients, all of which were never previously thought.

On 8 February 2017, InnoTecUK’s Technical Director Prof. Gurvinder S. Virk will, alongside other medical robot experts, lead a workshop in South Korea in collaboration with Korea Association of Robot Industry, to address long-standing issues in medicine and discuss the future implementation of medical robots for enhancing healthcare systems globally.

With over 20 years experience of robotic developments, Prof. Virk has extensive knowledge of emerging robots and robot systems in service and medical sectors and how the new robots should be regulated to ensure basic safety and essential performance to create the new urgently needed robot markets. He is convenor of the ISO TC299 and IEC SC62A JWG5 on Medical robot safety which has formulated IEC TR 60601-4-1 Medical electrical equipment - Part 4-1: Guidance and interpretation – Medical electrical equipment and medical electrical systems employing a degree of autonomy. We was also the Convenor of ISO TC299/WG2 which published the safety standard for personal care robots (ISO 13482 Robots and robotic devices – Safetyrequirements for personal care robots).

It is clear that the role of new service robots will grow in many medical and non-medical domains and for the new robots to be safe and effective, it is necessary to understand the variety of human-robot interactions needed and how close human-robot interaction can be facilitated and regulated internationally.

Follow the links below to find out more about the workshop.

http://www.koros.or.kr/

http://www.koros.or.kr/sub063_board_content.asp?idx=284&page=1 . (www.koros.or.kr -> 참여마당 -> 공지사항)

 

Visit us at Innovate2016 Exhibition - We will be showcasing the latest evolutions of our robots based on our successful Hunter & VortexScanner platforms

Visit us at Booth FO13 to see our bespoke robotic inspection platforms for NDT systems at the forthcoming NDT World Conference http://www.wcndt2016.com

An advertisement on Cleanship, a collaborative project funded by the European Commission where InnoTecUK was involved as a SME participant, was recently published in the Inside Marine Magazine Issue M13 2014. The advert details an effective non-invasive solution for improving ship maintenance, prevention of fouling and detection of fouling through the development of an integrated system. To view the advert please click here  CleanShip Advert For more details on how to get a copy of the magazine please click here.  

An article on TidalSense Demo, a project where InnoTecUK is the co-ordinator and lead participant, was recently published in Horizon – The EU Research & Innovation Magazine. The article highlights the great work being done through the project in the Tidal Energy sector to develop condition monitoring systems to continuously check the integrity of the exposed rotor blades. For more details, please click here.

TidalSense Demo, a project co-ordinated by InnoTecUK, was highlighted by the European Commission in CORDIS, which is European Commission’s primary public repository and portal to disseminate information on key EU-funded research projects and their results in the broadest sense. An article was also published on CORDIS titled ‘Riding the wave of momentum for tidal power’ which provides a brief of the TidalSense Demo project and shows the importance of the system. For more details, please click here.

An article on CORETO, a project being co-ordinated by InnoTecUK, was recently published in World Wind Technology Magazine. The article highlighted the goal of the project to spearhead new structural rehabilitation techniques that will make repairing wind turbine blades possible on site. The project is an ambitious one and as a consortium, we are up to the challenge! For more details, please click here.