UK's STRAND project aims to program robot security guards and carers

A British-led consortium is developing new computer software to help the robots of the future navigate through the messy and cluttered environments of working life, working independently for up to 120 days. Dr Nick Hawes, lecturer in intelligent robotics at the University of Birmingham, is co-ordinating the work. He says that although robots can currently work in "predictable" environments for short periods of times, he wants to push for further developments. "Recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence have enabled mobile robots to operate intelligently in predictable environments for limited periods of time," he said. "Our challenge is to develop robots which can go way beyond this, running reliably in dynamic real-world security and care environments for as long as they're required. This will make these machines truly useful assistants in our workplaces."