Research output per year
Research output per year
Personal profile
Research interests
My research interests are in the field of mobile robots for demanding and long-lasting environments, such as those found in the energy sector (nuclear and offshore), utilities, urban infrastructure and transportation.
I specialise in the design of robotic systems (air, aquatic, and ground) to access challenging environments.
My current research focus is on developing design toolchains which enable efficient and informed co-design of robots, missions, and environments.
Units taught
AERO62520 Robotic Systems Design Project
EEEN30072 Mobile Robots and Autonomous Systems
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, Mobile Platforms for Underwater Sensor Networks, The University of Manchester
Sept 2008 → Sept 2012
Award Date: 28 Sept 2012
Master of Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering with Industrial Experience (Honours), The University of Manchester
Sept 2003 → Jun 2008
Award Date: 6 Jun 2008
Areas of expertise
- TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
- Robotics
Research Highlights, Institutes and Platforms
- Energy
- Sustainable Futures
- Digital Futures
- Dalton Nuclear Institute
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 4 Quality Education -
SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions -
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
Fingerprint
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Confined Space Underwater Positioning Using Collaborative Robots
Cheng, X., Yao, K., West, A., Watson, S., Marjanovic, O., Lennox, B. & Groves, K., 29 Jan 2026, (Accepted/In press) In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine .Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Model-Driven Assurance for Robotic Controllers: A Subterranean Tunnel Inspection Case Study
Rafiq, Y., Bishop, C., Watson, S., Dennis, L., Wheeler, F., Brotherhood, J., GARRIGA, M. M. & HIERONS, R. M., 10 Jul 2026, International Conference on Formal Methods in Software Engineering. p. 35 - 45Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
Open Access -
Object-Reconstruction-Aware Whole-body Control of Mobile Manipulators
Dursan, F., Adorno, B. V., Watson, S. & Pan, W., 6 Jan 2026, (Unpublished) p. 1. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
File15 Downloads (Pure) -
Object-Reconstruction-Aware Whole-Body Control of Mobile Manipulators
Dursun, F., Adorno, B. V., Watson, S. & Pan, W., 2026, In: IEEE Transactions on Robotics. 42, p. 2912-2930 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Virtual Elastic Tether: a New Approach for Multi-agent Navigation in Confined Aquatic Environments
Yao, K., Cheng, X., Groves, K., Lennox, B., Marjanovic, O. & Watson, S., 14 Feb 2026, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Field Robotics.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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CRADLE: CRADLE - Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-lasting Environments
Fisher, M. (PI), Adorno, B. (CoI), Cangelosi, A. (CoI), Dennis, L. (CoI), Dixon, C. (CoI), Groves, K. (CoI), Lennox, B. (CoI), Watson, S. (CoI), Weightman, A. (CoI), Farrell, M. (CoI), Marinho, M. (CoI), Ladosz, P. (CoI), Wood, K. (CoI), Collins, E. (CoI), Smith, K. (CoI), Parslew, B. (CoI), Li, Z. (CoI), Clinch, S. (CoI), Baniqued, P. D. (Support team), Flint, S. (Support team), Khan, D. (Technical team), Tse, K. W. (Technical team), Atia, M. (Researcher), Song, Y. (Researcher), Leslie-Dalley, S. (PGR student), Bettles, J. (PGR student), Limarga, R. (Researcher), Zheng, S. (Researcher), Slusarz, N. (Researcher), Le, H. L. (PGR student), Tavella, F. (Researcher), Bolarinwa, J. (Researcher), Chi, X. (PGR student), Rolph, M. (PGR student), Saravanan, D. (PGR student), Abeywickrama, D. (Researcher), Rafiq, Y. (Researcher), Bishop, C. (Researcher), Khan, S. M. (Researcher), Wheelhouse, L. (PGR student), Morley, A. (PGR student), Greenhaus, Y. (PGR student), Arumugam, S. (PGR student) & Soboyejo, T. (PGR student)
1/09/23 → 31/08/28
Project: Research
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RAI: Centre for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
Cangelosi, A. (PI), Lennox, B. (PI), Weightman, A. (CoI), Dennis, L. (CoI), Dixon, C. (CoI), Fisher, M. (CoI), Herrmann, G. (CoI), Dickson, A. (CoI), Lanzon, A. (CoI), Stancu, A. (CoI), Miller, A. (CoI), Freitas, A. (CoI), Nini, A. (CoI), Voronkov, A. (CoI), Brass, A. (CoI), Vijayaraghavan, A. (CoI), Parslew, B. (CoI), crowther, W. (CoI), Grieve, B. (CoI), Adorno, B. (CoI), Jay, C. (CoI), Wang, C. C. L. (CoI), Todd, C. (CoI), Soutis, C. (CoI), Arsene, C. (CoI), Dresner, D. (CoI), Barrett, E. (CoI), Gowen, E. (CoI), Arvin, F. (CoI), Podd, F. (CoI), Brown, G. (CoI), Reger, G. (CoI), Cooper, G. (CoI), Mairs, H. (CoI), Yin, H. (CoI), Kinloch, I. (CoI), Eleftheriou, I. (CoI), Li, J. (CoI), Carrasco Gomez, J. (CoI), Ainsworth, J. (CoI), Sinha, J. (CoI), Ozanyan, K. (CoI), Smith, K. (CoI), Twomey, K. (CoI), Margetts, L. (CoI), Ren, L. (CoI), Zhang, L. (CoI), Cordeiro, L. (CoI), Rattray, M. (PI), Bissett, M. (CoI), Elliot, M. (CoI), Alvarez, M. (CoI), Luján, M. (CoI), Nabawy BSc, MSc, PhD, MRAeS, SMAIAA, FHEA, M. (CoI), Peek, N. (CoI), Marjanovic, O. (CoI), Dorn, O. (CoI), Dudek, P. (CoI), Green, P. (CoI), Connolly, P. (CoI), Da Silva Bartolo, P. J. (CoI), Gardner, P. (CoI), Martin, P. (CoI), Potluri, P. (CoI), Curtis, R. (CoI), Schmidt, R. (CoI), Banach, R. (CoI), Batista-Navarro, R. T. (CoI), Kaski, S. (CoI), Midson, S. (CoI), Watson, S. (CoI), Holm, S. (CoI), Furber, S. (CoI), Schlegel, V. (CoI), Mirihanage, W. (CoI), Mansell, W. (CoI), Pan, W. (CoI), Sampson, B. (CoI), Sellers, W. (CoI), Yang, W. (CoI), Cai, P. (CoI), Sun, Y. (CoI), Alharthi, A. (Researcher), Macario Rojas, A. (Researcher), Serhan, B. (Researcher), Yu, C. (Researcher), Abara, D. (Researcher), Lopez Pulgarin, E. (Researcher), Faruq, F. (Researcher), Tavella, F. (Researcher), Semeraro, F. (Researcher), Liu, G. (Researcher), Fang, G. (Researcher), Niu, H. (Researcher), Taylor, H. (PI), Zhu, H. (PGR student), Collenette, J. (Researcher), Amano, K. (Researcher), Lo, K. C. J. (PGR student), Raggioli, L. (Researcher), Romeo, M. (Researcher), Ruocco, M. (PGR student), Ghaffari Saadat, M. (Researcher), Walmsley, M. (Researcher), Mubarik, A. (Researcher), Vinanzi, S. (Researcher), Su, Y.-H. (PGR student), McAleese, H. (PGR student), Stringer, P. (PGR student), Stoican, R. (PGR student), Ye, R. (PGR student), Kurawa, S. S. (PGR student), Zhang, T. (PGR student), Krywonos, W. (PGR student), Xu, Y. (PGR student), Tian, Y. (PGR student), Henderson, A. (Technical team), Morley, D. (Support team), Tallentire, J. (Support team), Smith, J. (Support team), Hawthornthwaite, S. (Support team), Carlson, J. (Support team) & Baniqued, P. D. (Researcher)
Project: Research
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RAIN+: Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for Nuclear Plus
Lennox, B. (PI), Arvin, F. (CoI), Carrasco Gomez, J. (CoI), Dennis, L. (CoI), Dixon, C. (CoI), Fisher, M. (CoI), Herrmann, G. (CoI), Watson, S. (CoI) & Weightman, A. (CoI)
1/04/21 → 31/03/22
Project: Research
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Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for Nuclear (RAIN)
Lennox, B. (PI), Arvin, F. (CoI), Brown, G. (CoI), Carrasco Gomez, J. (CoI), Da Via, C. (CoI), Furber, S. (CoI), Luján, M. (CoI), Watson, S. (CoI), Watts, S. (CoI) & Weightman, A. (CoI)
2/10/17 → 31/03/22
Project: Research
Prizes
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24th Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS) Best Abstract Award
Johnson, D. (Recipient), Adorno, B. (Recipient) & Watson, S. (Recipient), 15 Sept 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
File -
2nd Place Equipment & Facilities EPSRC Photography Competition 2017
Watson, S. (Recipient), Lennox, B. (Recipient), Nancekievill, M. (Recipient), Joyce, M. (Recipient) & Jones, A. (Recipient), 12 Jan 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Int. Workshop on Electric Drives Best paper award
Bodrov, A. (Recipient), Cheah, W. (Recipient), Green, P. (Recipient), Watson, S. (Recipient) & Apsley, J. (Recipient), 29 Jan 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Manchester Doctoral College Awards and Images of Research Competition
Yao, K. (Recipient), Cheng, X. (Recipient), Marjanovic, O. (Recipient) & Watson, S. (Recipient), 2024
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
File
Activities
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The 7th UK Robot Manipulation Workshop
DURSUN, F. (Poster presenter), Adorno, B. (Other), Watson, S. (Other) & Pan, W. (Other)
6 Jan 2026 → 7 Jan 2026Activity: Participating in or organising event(s) › Participating in a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc › Research
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IEEE ICRA 2024
Watson, S. (Chair), Skilton, R. (Co-Chair) & Lennox, B. (Co-Chair)
17 May 2024Activity: Participating in or organising event(s) › Organising a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc › Research
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Experiences of Practical Field Robotics During Lockdown
Watson, S. (Speaker)
5 May 2021Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk › Research
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ORCA Hub (External organisation)
Watson, S. (Academic expert member)
Sept 2019 → …Activity: Membership › Membership of grants peer review panel › Research
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Director of Company
Nancekievill, M. (Academic founder), Lennox, B. (Academic founder) & Watson, S. (Academic founder)
2018 → …Activity: Consultancy, spin-outs, CPD & licensing › Spin-outs & start-ups › Research
Impacts
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Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long Lasting Environments (CRADLE)
Baniqued, P. D. (Participant), Lennox, B. (Participant), Fisher, M. (Participant), Watson, S. (Participant), Flint, S. (Participant), Khan, D. (Participant), Tse, K. W. (Participant), Adorno, B. (Participant), Groves, K. (Participant), Atia, M. (Participant), Leslie-Dalley, S. (Participant), Dennis, L. (Participant), Zheng, S. (Participant), Limarga, R. (Participant), Farrell, M. (Collaborator), Cangelosi, A. (Participant), Dixon, C. (Participant), Collins, E. (Collaborator), Tavella, F. (Participant), Bolarinwa, J. (Participant), Chi, X. (Participant), Rolph, M. (Participant), Abeywickrama, D. (Participant), Rafiq, Y. (Participant), Bishop, C. (Participant), Wheelhouse, L. (Participant), Morley, A. (Participant), Bettles, J. (Participant), Soboyejo, T. (Participant), Weightman, A. (Collaborator), Marinho, M. (Collaborator), Ladosz, P. (Collaborator) & Smith, K. (Collaborator)
Impact: Economic, Environmental, Policy
Press/Media
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‘Not if, but when’: Where are the autonomous robots?
1/02/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert comment
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Ridley Scott inspires Network Rail’s cave-exploring drone
Watson, S., Brown, L. & Marjanovic, O.
11/12/20
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert comment
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Robots rush in where humans fear to tread
Arvin, F., Watson, S. & Lennox, B.
19/11/19
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert comment
Thesis
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