Robots take

摘要

From the hulking industrial robots guarding its main entrance, to the sinister humanoid torsos slumped beneath dust-sheets - not to mention the assorted heads, limbs, and drones competing for space on its shelves - there's something of the scifi film set about the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL). It's an impression, however, that's dispelled after just a few minutes with the lab's director, Prof Chris Melhuish. Indeed, BRL, which has emerged as the UK's key centre of excellence in one of the world's most important emerging technology areas, has its eyes set firmly on developing the technologies that will transform not fiction, but reality, in the years ahead.