Collect.
Find emerging forms in published research and demonstrations.
Robotics. Research. Real work.
Smart machine
strategy
& adoption.
We assess advances in robotics, explore how machine capabilities will evolve, and help organisations decide where and how to put them to work.
From a sensor-equipped tool to an autonomous robot, we connect what a machine can do with the work that needs doing.
01 / Frontier consulting
What would count
as a breakthrough?
At the research frontier, the capability is still being invented. The task is to judge the ambition, the dependencies and the evidence that would make the claim stand up.
We examine emerging robotics: manipulation, actuation, tactile sensing, soft robotics and AI-enabled robot design. A promising component is a starting point. We ask what changes in the behaviour of the whole machine.
What you receive
An assessment of the proposed advance, the capabilities it depends on, and the experiments needed to test it.
Framework: Robotics Evolution R&D Playbook
A capability under examination
Feeling contact is one thing.
Handling a fragile object is another.
Sense contactTactile sensing
Adjust forceControl & actuation
Make contactGripper & materials
A capability to demonstrate:
reliable, delicate handling.
reliable, delicate handling.
- ClaimWhich physical capability improves?
- DependenciesWhat else must work for that improvement to matter?
- EvidenceWhat experiment could establish the advance?
Illustrative capability analysis.
Experience / ARIA
Independent external review for ARIA’s Robot Dexterity programme, examining ambitious research into the next generation of robot capabilities.
Read more02 / Robot evolution research
A wider world
of robot species.
Soft bodies. Growing structures. Machines that fold, reconfigure or act together. The emerging diversity of robotics opens up new ways to think about difficult work.
Our research collects, collates and classifies emerging robot species. We study the forms being developed by researchers around the world, how they function, and the possibilities they open up.
“Species” is a way of making that diversity understandable: grouping robots by their bodies, behaviours and capabilities. The purpose is education—helping people recognise possibilities they might otherwise overlook, and distinguish demonstrated capabilities from future promise.
Collate.
Bring together their capabilities, evidence and practical limits.
Classify.
Make sense of the species—and the kinds of work they might help with.
The functional view of evolutionRobotics Evolution
Robotics Evolution
R&D Playbook
Our research examines 15 fundamental functions shared across robots. Following their development helps us understand how capabilities change, combine and find expression in different species.
Research signalsMaterialsActuationSensingComputation
15fundamental
functions
functions
Sense · Move
Manipulate · Adapt
Examples of the functional lens
What changes?Existing capabilities
improveCapabilities
combineDifferent species
emerge
improveCapabilities
combineDifferent species
emerge
The question it helps us ask
What could a machine do differently—and what would need to develop together to make that possible?
03 / Adoption consulting
Build your
smart machines
portfolio.
Which work could change? Which responses are worth pursuing? What would it take to bring them into everyday use?
We work through your operations with the people who know them. We identify recurring difficulties, develop use cases, compare responses and examine readiness. The result is a portfolio of promising opportunities, with a reason to pursue each and a clear next investigation.
A portfolio may include better tooling, digital support, fixed automation and adaptable robots. The combination follows the work.
01 / UnderstandWork & challenges
Map the task and what makes it difficult.
02 / FrameOpportunities & use cases
Define what could change and for whom.
03 / CompareResponses & machine types
Consider different ways to do the work.
04 / DecideReadiness & portfolio
Prioritise the next investigations.
Analytical tool / Challenge FamiliesFind the difficulty.
Find the difficulty.
Then explore the possibilities.
One task can contain several different challenges. These twelve families help make the requirements visible, so that useful responses can be compared.
Handling & geometry
Fragility and permitted contact
What contact can the item tolerate without damage?
Qualified support and workholding
How is the item supported while preserving its shape and access?
Cleanliness and surface condition
What must remain clean or ready for the next operation?
Presentation, registration and orientation
How is the item located, referenced and presented?
Precision alignment and controlled joining
What geometry must be maintained as parts are joined?
Temporary mounting and release
How can the item be secured, then released cleanly?
Interfaces & evidence
Equipment interfaces and hand-offs
What must be true when work passes between people or machines?
Identity, traceability and variant control
How do we know which item, history and setup apply?
Monitoring, inspection and acceptance
What feedback and evidence establish acceptable work?
Vacuum, sealing and thermal interfaces
Which pressure, seal and heat-transfer conditions matter?
Failure, recovery and rework
What happens when the operation does not go to plan?
Access, visibility and changeover
Can the work be seen, reached and changed over reliably?
Analytical tool / 02
The Six Rs
Six response choices. They can combine: a better fixture may be part of the robotics answer.
The use caseWork + constraints + desired changeCompare and combine the responses below
Process, fixture
or tooling
Change how the work is set up.
Digital aid or
workflow automation
Support decisions and information flow.
Fixed or process
automation
Automate a well-defined operation.
Hybrid or precision
workstation
Combine human judgement and machine assistance.
Adaptable
robotics
Consider machines that can accommodate change.
No case,
defer or stop
Make an explicit decision to hold or close an option.
The numbers identify alternatives. They do not rank technological sophistication.
Challenge Families and the Six Rs were developed and refined through our workshop work with the National Robotarium.
Readiness frameworkRobotics
Robotics
Supply–Demand
A machine may perform the task and still be difficult to adopt. Our 21-element readiness assessment brings supply, demand and governance into the same decision.
Supply
Demand
Governance
Readyfor use?
Can it be delivered?
Capability, integration, suppliers and ongoing support.
Will it work for the organisation?
Operational value, people, workflows and the ability to absorb change.
Can the decision stand up?
Ownership, funding, risk, assurance and accepted evidence.
The consulting outputDecisions. Dependencies.
Decisions. Dependencies.
A route into use.
A working portfolio that connects each opportunity to its response choices, evidence gaps and next investigation.
Illustrative portfolio · Three example opportunities
Opportunity brief
Inspect remote assets
Reach difficult places. Bring back useful evidence.
Responses to compare
- Inspection drone
- Fixed sensing
- Digital evidence workflow
Readiness question
Can the evidence support a maintenance decision and enter the asset record?
Next investigationAgree the evidence
Define the evidence standard with the people who accept it.
Opportunity brief
Handle delicate components
Keep control of contact, variation and alignment.
Responses to compare
- Improved fixture
- Precision workstation
- Adaptable manipulator
Readiness question
What forces, variation and tolerances must the system accommodate?
Next investigationTest the difficult cases
Characterise the task and test the difficult cases.
Opportunity brief
Move materials between stations
Make the whole journey work, including its exceptions.
Responses to compare
- Layout change
- Fixed transfer
- Mobile carrier
Readiness question
How do space, interfaces and changing demand affect the choice?
Next investigationMap the system
Map journeys, hand-offs and recovery from interrupted transfers.
Across the portfolio
Shared infrastructurePeople & ownershipEvidence & assuranceInvestment sequence
FrameOpportunity briefs
The work, the value and the boundaries.
CompareResponse options
Alternatives, combinations and trade-offs.
EstablishReadiness & evidence
The gaps that affect the decision.
SequenceInvestigation roadmap
What to test, who owns it and what follows.
These examples demonstrate the method; they are not client findings or recommendations.
Behind the workEngineering ↔ organisations
Bill Murray
Engineering, strategy and the cyber-physical world
The thread through Bill Murray’s career has been a question: what does technology make possible, and what must organisations become capable of doing to put it to work?
He began as a mechanical engineer at Arup, investigating the behaviour of complex physical systems. He later became a vice president at CSC, founded and built Differentis, and researched digital platforms, software engineering, ecosystems and digital twins at DXC’s Leading Edge Forum. Across those roles, the work moved between technical architecture, business strategy and the realities of organisational change.
Those strands now converge around cyber-physical systems and smart machines. Bill was recognised as one of six founding architects of the UK Cyber-Physical Infrastructure vision. More recently he has contributed to smart-machine strategy, evaluated frontier robotics proposals for ARIA and worked with the National Robotarium on robotics opportunities, readiness and adoption.
Westleigh Warwick brings together the ideas, frameworks, experience and unanswered questions arising from that continuing work.
Selected experienceResearch ↔ Operations
From frontier research
to the factory floor.
The National Robotarium work provides a practical benchmark across organisations, sectors and operating conditions. Our frontier review and evolution research bring the changing capabilities of machines into that picture.
Frontier / Independent review
ARIA
External review of concept papers, seed applications and full proposals for the Robot Dexterity programme. This work examines speculative research, its physical capability claims and the evidence proposed to establish them.
Evolution / Original researchA Robotics Evolution
A Robotics Evolution
R&D Playbook
Research into how robot functions develop and combine, alongside the collection, collation and classification of emerging robot species. A foundation for frontier assessment, education and the longer view of machine capability.
Adoption / Workshops & readiness
National Robotarium
Robotics Readiness Reviews and workshops with operating teams: examining work, developing opportunities and considering the route into use. Experience spans large manufacturers, infrastructure operators, retailers, smaller businesses and mixed sector groups.
Sectors we have worked inExperience across
Experience across
very different worlds.
Different materials, environments and responsibilities. A broader view of what makes adoption work.
Advanced manufacturing
Production, assembly and precision work
Aerospace & defence
Complex products and demanding assurance
Food & drink
Products, processes and handling
Retail
Stock, stores and logistics
Electricity distribution
Infrastructure, inspection and maintenance
Maritime operations
Assets, access and work at sea
Agriculture
Variable environments and living materials
Textiles
Flexible materials and varied handling
Policing & public safety
Operational demands and human judgement