15 Jan 2019
Europe's largest science museum teams with ERC for series of public robotics workshops
BY Andy Knaggs
Robots and robotics are set to take over largest science museum in Europe this weekend, with the European Research Council (ERC) teaming up with the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris, France, for a series of public workshops on artificial intelligence.
Taking place from 19-20 January, ERC researchers Jean Baptiste Mouret and Jean-Paul Laumond will hold "science cafés" to discuss their activities, while workshops on robot manufacturing take place at the Carrefour Numerique area of the science museum, which has a permanent fixture for robotic lovers called Samedi Robots. Here visitors can design their own robot skeleton using a 3D printer and add automation using microcontroller cards.
The work of Mouret and Laumond promises to be a draw for visitors. Mouret’s research is about how robots can autonomously recover from unforeseen damages, knowing that their adaptive capacities are limited. Laumond has undertaken challenging research that combines robotics and computational neuroscience to investigate the anthropomorphic action in humans and robots; the findings of this research could prove crucial in improving the autonomy of humanoid robots in rescue operations and in the service sector.
The events have been organised by Universcience – the public body of the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie and the Palais de la Découverte, created with the aim of inspiring people to be curious about the world of science and to engage in scientific reasoning.
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