Building a Future with Robots

Learn how your life could be changed by robots and autonomous systems

Robots and autonomous systems have already begun to transform our jobs and everyday lives. From self-driving cars and home robots to chatbots like ChatGPT, technology powered by artificial intelligence and robotics is set to play a pivotal role in our future world.

On this three-week course from the University of Sheffield, you’ll delve into current and future developments in robotics. You’ll discover how robots operate, learn, and interact with the world.

Understand how robots sense, learn, and interact

Over the three weeks of the course, you’ll explore how robots sense the world around them and how they can be made to work with humans and with one another.

You’ll build up a picture of the fundamental principles and challenges of robotic design, looking deeper into how research is working to overcome these.

Build skills and prepare for a future with robots

As you learn about the theory and science of robotics, you’ll also be building practical skills for your own career and life. You’ll learn what a future with robots might look like, and what role you could play within it.

You’ll finish the course with the expertise you need to understand and shape the future of robotics.

This course is designed for anyone interested in learning about the future of robots and robotics.

It will be particularly useful for aspiring mechanical, automotive, and robotics engineers, as well as product designers, technicians, and enthusiasts keen to understand the role robots are set to play in our domestic, economic, and industrial futures.

• Sensing the world
• Welcome to the course
• Interpreting the environment
• Building autonomous robots
• Making responsible decisions
• The future with robots that can sense
• Learning from nature
• Welcome to Week 2
• Understanding nature
• Modelling animal behaviour
• Using mind control
• The challenges of using mind control
• The future of learning from nature
• Working in teams
• Welcome to Week 3
• Interacting in teams
• The future for robot teams
• Preparing for a future with robots
• Final steps