22/10/08 Research Fortnight - Cover Story
Hannah Devlin and Laura Hood
The British defence and aerospace company BAE Systems is negotiating with the Science and Technology Facilities Council to establish a national robotics research centre at the council's troubled Daresbury laboratory in Cheshire.
The centre would focus on the development of autonomous systems robots that can operate and make decisions without human intervention. The company would like Daresbury to host the project, Research Fortnight has learned, although a final decision is yet to be reached.
The field's relative novelty has left researchers scattered across a large number of institutions and university departments, such as computing or electrical engineering, according to BAE Systems.
`It's fairly dispersed and we'd like to see a more concentrated effort,' says John Howison, the head of university partnership programmes at BAE Systems, who has been leading discussions with the STFC. `Research grants are typically around £350,000 that's just one or two people for three years. We're trying to join them all back together again.'
Howison argues that a dedicated centre would provide both stronger coordination and a focal point for industry to interact with academics. He adds that Daresbury's exclusive focus on research makes it an ideal choice. `If you do research in universities, there are distractions such as teaching and administration,' he says. `At Daresbury, people are there to do just one thing. It offers a different culture.' The STFC has confirmed that it is in talks with BAE, and one senior official describes the proposal as `very exciting'.
The technology developed at the centre would have military applications such as unmanned aircraft as well as civilian ones, says Howison. The company's preferred model would be a centre jointly funded by BAE Systems and the STFC, with an industry-led steering board, hosting research staff seconded from both universities and industry.
Some university specialists dispute Howison's characterisation of the field, however, and question whether a single centre is best for its development. `I'm not sure the field is all that dispersed,' says Erol Gelenbe, head of intelligent systems at Imperial College London. `In my view there are two main places where significant research is conducted - Imperial and Southampton - and Oxford for just the maths side.'
Gelenbe says the prospect of BAE playing a greater role coordinating academic research `sounds very reasonable'. But he doubts whether academics would be willing to be seconded to the centre. `A place like Daresbury doesn't have a lot to offer intellectually.'
Maria Fox, head of computer science at the University of Strathclyde, said the proposed centre could help `bridge the gulf' between research and industry and welcomed the idea of seconding researchers to Daresbury. But she was less enthusiastic about the possibility of a shift towards large-scale projects. `I believe the best value for money lies in small focused projects. Once you get hubs, you get huge waste.'
BAE Systems initially considered Harwell in Oxfordshire, but Howison now says the centre would fit better with Daresbury's portfolio and would benefit from participation in the North West Aerospace Alliance, a consortium led by aerospace manufacturers in the region. Another option is to base the centre at a university. Although Howison describes this as less likely, he identified nine possible hosts, including Imperial, Southampton and Oxford.
The STFC says that the centre could act as a model for how researchers work with industry in the future. `Beyond Daresbury, this is an important step for the STFC's knowledge exchange programme and for its economic impact programme,' says Liz Towns-Andrews, head of policy and programmes at Daresbury.
BAE Systems and the STFC will meet on 4 November to discuss the idea and hope to reach agreement in a few months. `We're looking to put a major programme in place by the middle of next year,' Howison says.