Jonathan with his buddy ‘Outback Joe’.
Meet Jonathan Roberts, Research Director of our Autonomous Systems Lab in Queensland.
He leads over 45 scientists and engineers in the fields of robotics, computer vision and pervasive computing technologies.
Jonathan’s particular research interest is in robot guidance systems. He looks at how robots can operate independently in outdoor environments.
His strong passion for space and robotics sprung at an early age after watching Star Wars IV – A New Hope.
Ten-year old Jonathan sporting his favourite Star Wars outfit.
“After Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi screened, I decided I had to be an astronaut or space scientist”, says Jonathan.
“I loved the spaceships, the creatures, the adventure but most of all the droids (robots) so much that I wanted to be Luke Skywalker and wear his crazy white jacket and trousers.”
He went on to study Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southhampton in the UK, and later completed a PhD in robot vision.
Jonathan joined us at CSIRO in 1995, where he began to develop a series of giant robots (we’re talking around 3,500 tonnes) for the mining industry.
He now works on developing robotic systems to assist people in a variety of circumstances, particularly those that are too hazardous for humans. You can check them out here on our blog.
With Jonathan’s expert skills, we could soon have a robot to solve all our problems. If all else fails, maybe he can use the force.
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