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
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):
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 Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Energy
- Sustainable Futures
- Digital Futures
- Dalton Nuclear Institute
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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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Corroborative V&V for Autonomous Systems: Integrating Evidence and Discrepancy Analysis for Safety Assurance
Abeywickrama, D., Bishop, C., Watson, S., Wheeler, F., Fisher, M. & Dennis, L., 12 Aug 2025, (Accepted/In press) 5th Workshop on Agents and Robots for reliable Engineered Autonomy, 5th October 2025 at ECAI 2025 - Bologna https://areaworkshop.github.io/AREA2025.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
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Cyber-physical-human systems for mobile robots in energy asset management: Current practices and future opportunities
Baniqued, P. D., Mitchell, D., Kivrak, H., Blanche, J., Bremner, P., Harper, S., Jiang, Z., Lopez, E., Paterson, J., Carrasco, J., Groves, K., Giuliani, M., Herrmann, G., Lennox, B., Lim, T., Watson, S. & Flynn, D., 1 Sept 2025, In: Energy and AI. 21, 100570.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access -
Development and Extension of a Robot Network Platform Using RSNP
Matsuhira, N., Song, Y.-W., Yao, K., Bishop, C., Yu, S.-C., Groves, K., Watson, S., Sasaki, T. & Yamashita, A., 30 Jun 2025, (Accepted/In press) 2025 SICE Festival with Annual Conference (SICE FES 2025).Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
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Fully Distributed Cooperative Multi-Agent Underwater Obstacle Avoidance
Yao, K., Marjanovic, O. & Watson, S., 28 May 2025, (Accepted/In press) Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems: 26th Annual Conference, TAROS 2025, York, UK, August 20–22, 2025, Proceedings. Springer NatureResearch output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
Open AccessFile12 Downloads (Pure) -
Lessons Learned from the RAICAM Doctoral Network Research Sprints
Kenan, A., Kordkheili, S. S., Garcia Cardenas, J. J., Melone, A., Tian, C., Li, H., Raei, H., Arachchige, S. K., Tang, Y., Tapus, A., Ollero, A., Ajudani, A., Arrue, B. C., Papageorgiou, D., Kamarainen, J.-K., Heikkonen, J., Figueredo, L., Giuliani, M., Trahanias, P. & Bremner, P. & 3 others, , 9 Jun 2025, (Accepted/In press) Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems: 26th Annual Conference, TAROS 2025, York, UK, August 20–22, 2025, Proceedings. Springer NatureResearch output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › 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)
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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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)
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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)
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Activities
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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
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) (External organisation)
Watson, S. (Academic expert member)
2008 → …Activity: Membership › Membership of professional association › 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
Datasets
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MIRRAX: A Reconfigurable Robot for Limited Access Environments - Experimental Dataset
Watson, S. (Creator) & Cheah, W. (Creator), University of Manchester Figshare, 12 Sept 2022
DOI: 10.48420/21071017.v1, https://figshare.manchester.ac.uk/articles/dataset/MIRRAX_A_Reconfigurable_Robot_for_Limited_Access_Environments_-_Experimental_Dataset/21071017/1
Dataset
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
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Thesis
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Mobile Platforms for Underwater Sensor Networks
Watson, S. (Author), Green, P. (Supervisor), 28 Sept 2012Student thesis: Phd
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