GMV presented today its 1st GMV Robotics Day (I Jornada GMV de Robótica), showcasing the latest mobile robot research and the many applications of this technology. This event was designed and developed as part of the European Robotics Week (28 November– 4 December, 2011) with over 300 robotics-related events planned throughout the whole of Europe.

Robotics cover a large range of technologies (artificial vision, manipulation, locomotion, navigation, human-robot interaction), all of which are gradually making inroads into our daily lives in the form of robot vacuum cleaners, unmanned vehicles and smart games. These technologies all call for early research in the very first stages of their development to reach a competitive level in the business world.

With the aim of promoting and stimulating robotics at both the national and European levels, GMV organized this robotics meeting in its Martian Terrarium, a 180m2 test area which reproduces Martian conditions with copper-colored soil, grain size, a distribution of rocks on the ground, and a 15mx12m background panel showing a Martian panorama taken in November 2005 from the summit of Husband Hill by NASA’s Spirit rover.

The exhibition was divided into two parts. The first part involved robot demonstrations from the academic and industrial worlds; the second involved exhibitions of robots built by students aged 8 to 16, closely supported by GMV.

Robotics is highly appealing to the up-and-coming generation, which includes the budding scientists and leaders of tomorrow’s society. GMV sponsors many educational and/or training initiatives to inspire this budding talent, and this 1st GMV Robotics Day highlighted two of them.

The 1st GMV Robotics Day ended with the presentation of the LRM rover, a highly robust platform used for research into remote, unmanned operation in space (specifically designed for the moon’s polar caps), currently in development phase by GMV for the European Space Agency (ESA). 
 

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