Last week, we saw a list of top robotics research institutions and labs in Spain. In this post today, let’s look at the top robotics research institutions and labs in Portugal.
RoboCorp – Engineering Institute of Coimbra (ISEC)
RoboCorp at the Engineering Institute of Coimbra (ISEC) is a multidisciplinary group of researchers from several scientific fields including mobile and industrial robotics, automation and computer vision.
Its research emphasizes developing intelligent sensing, planning and control methods for robotic and manufacturing systems, machine vision, image understanding and pattern recognition in industrial applications and design, development and testing of sports equipment and mathematical tools.
LREI@IPCB – Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco
The Robotics and Intelligent Equipment Lab (LREI@IPCB) at the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco focuses on research for industrial and service robots, oriented to solve real-world problems for industry and society.
The LREI@IPCB offers a wide range of courses at the undergraduate level and also for industry professionals, in the fields of automation, control, robotics, and acoustics. It conducts interdisciplinary research projects on surgical robotics, applied to orthopedic surgery, mainly in the development on precise navigation systems for robots, based on ultrasound images of bones, robot companions for the elderly, capable to interact and monitor life patterns and construction, visualization and analysis of 3D object models, for real-time industrial and medical applications. The lab also conducts mobile robot competitions, for indoor autonomous driving, at the national level with increasing success.
Lisbon Technology Institute (IST) – Technical University of Lisbon
Lisbon Technology Institute (IST) at the Technical University of Lisbon focuses on Dynamical Systems and Ocean Robotics, Computer and Robot Vision, Signal and Image Processing, Evolutionary Systems and Intelligent Robots and Systems and Biomedical Engineering. It gives special attention to international scientific research cooperation and training and education initiatives through master, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs.
Ever since its foundation, and in close association with IST, ISR-Lisbon has been committed to meeting the following main strategic objectives: 1. Promoting scientific research and technological development in robotics, information processing, and associated areas, 2. promoting active intellectual collaboration among researchers in different kinds of science and different regions, 3. providing education and research experience for graduate and undergraduate students and post-doctoral researchers, 4. giving exposure to students to large-scale collaborative research ventures.
Center of Intelligent Systems (CSI) – Technical University of Lisbon
The Center of Intelligent Systems (CSI) aims the interplay of systems and control theory and engineering applications, having national and international orientation and seeking cooperation with other research institutes and industry.
The research and development of the CSI are divided into three complementary activities: fundamental research, systems development and applications and transfer of technology to industry.
The research topics are organized in three broad areas, namely Robotic Systems, Systems & Control and Complex Systems, aiming the development towards the enhancement of performance, functionality, safety, and reliability.
Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA) – University of Aveiro
The Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA) is one of the Research Units of the University of Aveiro, focusing on multidisciplinary research and advanced development on electrical and computer engineering, and computer science, integrated in the international research community and contributing to the technological and social development.
Innovative biomedical technologies and intelligent robotics are the two main application areas. IEETA is involved in the European Robotics Research Network (EURON) and its interest groups. Research covers human-robot interaction, robot learning, humanoid robots, multi-robot systems, distributed control architectures for robotics, and robots in education. Service robots are also a current topic of interest and research at IEETA.
The Institute of Systems and Robotics – University of Coimbra (ISR-UC)
The Institute of Systems and Robotics – University of Coimbra (ISR-UC) is a Portuguese private, non-profit research institution. ISR is a first-class multi-disciplinary research institution able to carry out leading-edge research in several important areas of science and technology, with a particular emphasis on automation and robotics.
It focuses on mobile autonomous robotics, intelligent transportation systems, search and rescue, underwater robotics, robotic manipulation, computer vision, medical robotics, assistive technologies, biomedical engineering, advanced industrial and automation technologies.
ISR-UC has two research groups. The overall objective of the Automation and Mobile Robotics Group is to develop new algorithms, methods and architectures to performance and robustness of robotic systems for autonomous and safe robot interactions in dynamic, unstructured and complex environments. The Computer and Robot Vision Group emphasizes active vision and applications of robot vision to mobile robot navigation and localization.
Industrial Robotics Laboratory – University of Coimbra
The Industrial Robotics Laboratory at the University of Coimbra has been active in several areas of research related to industrial robotics, application of robots in manufacturing, new methods to interact with robots and making them autonomous in their tasks. Its main areas include industrial robotics, force control, CAD-based robotics, human-robot interfaces, human-robot interaction, pattern recognition, and robot autonomy.
Laboratory of Automation and Robotics – University of Minho
The Laboratory of Automation and Robotics has been developing automation and autonomous mobile robotics since 1998. The laboratory is part of the Control, Automation, and Robotics group of the Algoritmi Research Center. It develops its robots, from mechanics to electronics, finishing in the programming in different hardware and software platforms. Applied research is the main focus of the laboratory has produced more than thirty robot prototypes for a variety of applications, both industrial and educational. The laboratory is also responsible for RoboParty since its creation in 2007.
The Mobile and Anthropomorphic Robotics (MAR) Laboratory – University of Minho
The Mobile and Anthropomorphic Robotics (MAR) Laboratory is part of the Control, Automation and Robotics Group at the University of Minho. Research concentrates on the design and implementation of Cognitive Control Architectures for single and multi-robot systems, including Human-robot Interaction & Collaboration.
The lab is equipped with ARoS – a human-size anthropomorphic robotic assistant, two mobile manipulators each with a 7 Dofs arm & 3 fingers Barret hand, and several wheeled robots. All robotic platforms (except the robotic arms & hands) have been developed and built at the lab. The research areas include natural human-robot interaction, anthropomorphic robotic systems, multi-robot systems, and medical robotics.
