£4 million miniature robot laboratory opens on campus
Imperial opens yet another robotic lab, making it only a matter of time before we are overrun in a scene similar to that of I, Robot.
On Wednesday the EPSRC Micro-Machining Facility for Medical Robotics was officially opened at Imperial College London. Costing £4 million, this new lab will allow the development of miniaturised surgical robotics that could reshape the way diseases are diagnosed and treated
Professor Alice Gast, Imperial College London President and Dr Lesley Thompson, Director of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) opened the Facility. The Facility will be lead by Professor Guang-Zhong Yang, Director of the Hamlyn Centre, in the Bessemer building, where the Facility is located.
The new facility will house advanced 3D printers for researchers to create the surgical devices on various scales, ranging from the microscopic to the nanoscale. The Faculty also boasts a micro CT scanner that allows researchers to view the microscopic components they are working on, alongside a micro-machine assembly line.
The robotics that will be developed in the Facility will hopefully improve the diagnosis of diseases and drug therapies, and lead to the improvement of minimally invasive surgical procedures.
The opening of the Facility also means that these technologies can be developed on-site and in-house, reducing the cost by cutting out the need for third party suppliers. This will also speed up the process, making the development of such robotics both more time and cost efficient.
EPSRC funded the project, and the Facility is part of the UK Robotics Network. The Network is led by Imperial, and various other laboratories that focus on robotics are scattered throughout the departments of aeronautics, bioengineering, computing, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.
The launch of the Facility also comes only a week after Imperial announced the launch of a £1.25m flying robotics lab. The Brahmal Vasudevan Aerial Robotics Lab will be a two-story structure that will feature workshops and a working laboratory. The lab will be installed on the roof of the City and Guilds building, and will have also teaching facilities for undergraduates and postgraduates.
Professor Guang-Zhong Yang said: “At Imperial we are already in the process of developing a range of miniaturised medical robots and smart surgical devices that improve the way patients in the UK are cared for. Thanks to the foresight of the Engineering and Physical Research Council, this new Facility will speed up and improve development and production processes not only for the Hamlyn staff but also for researchers across the College and at other institutions.”
