Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/1385717
COMMUNITY 71 PROFESSOR ROBERT BUCKINGHAM CELEBRATED ON NEW YEAR'S HONOUR LIST RAIN's Professor Rob Buckingham has been awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to robotic engineering. The UK Atomic Energy Authority 's (UKAEA) Robotics Director was one of those named in the full New Year Honours list for 2021, which recognises the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom. The awards will be presented by Queen Elizabeth II or her vice- regal representative. RAIN WEBINAR SERIES To ensure that we maintained enthusiasm and awareness with industry, RAIN launched a regular webinar series. The first session (held on 2nd April) attracted an audience >100 and included researchers, suppliers and end users. Questions and contributions from the webinars have led onto further industry engagement and in-Hub collaborations. RAIN IN UK R&D ROADMAP A case study of the CARMA robot – the first ever fully autonomous robot to be deployed into an active area at Sellafield Ltd – featured in the UK governments July 2020 R&D roadmap. The Hub is proud to be recognised as demonstrating value in the 'robots for a safer world' programme. CROSS-HUB HRI WORKSHOP The RAIN HRI team, working with researchers from the other ISCF Hubs, coordinated an online workshop focused on HRI. This set of workshops brought research and industry stakeholders together to discuss how humans interact with robots now and in the future. Themes included: VR & AR, Communication & perception, Teleoperation, Human factors, Trustworthiness, Haptics and Shared control. VERIFICATION WORKSHOP An online workshop on "Verification and Regulatory Issues for Remote Robotic Inspection", coordinated by The RAIN Hub, The Orca Hub, and The Assuring Autonomy International Programme, was a great success. This workshop brought together key stakeholders interested in the verification and regulation challenges faced when using robotic systems for remote inspection. MDPI SPECIAL EDITION JOURNAL Members of the RAIN team are guest editors for this MDPI Special Issue "Advances in Robots for Hazardous Environments in the UK". It aims to disseminate and promote the advanced research developments generated by this scheme in the areas of robotics, autonomous systems, integrated sensing and mission planning with an emphasis on real-world deployments.