Waterloo Engineering has the largest and most active robotics and automation research group in Canada, supporting Canada's largest robotics and automation cluster (via WaterlooEDC).
With over 45 faculty members solving problems in advanced robotics, autonomous systems, human-robot interaction, and related fields, Waterloo is where the future of robotics is being developed.
Our mission is to make significant advancements in robotics, from fundamental research through design and development to commercial applications including robots that build cars, explore space, deliver coffee, defuse land mines, or perform surgery.
For more details, check out the Robotics @ Waterloo page.
What's the RoboHub?
The Waterloo RoboHub is the home of robotics at the University of Waterloo, bringing together all of the related technical, educational, research, and other services and experience into one central group.
Visit the About the RoboHub section of the website for more details on our team, fleet, facilities, and research themes.
News
Taking a load off health-care workers
With health-care systems under increasing strain, University of Waterloo engineers are developing ways to literally lighten the load for overburdened hospital workers.
Health-care is physically demanding work; caregivers push equipment-laden carts and transfer patients on heavy beds between wings through obstacle-filled hallways.
Robots, AI and the future of manufacturing
The Financial Post interviewed Waterloo Engineering professor Dr. William Melek to discuss the future of AI and robotics in manufacturing.
The article discusses how people have mixed feelings toward robots with some viewing them as workplace competition.
Melek frames it differently: “Automation is best for quality control or unsavoury tasks that are either too repetitive, dangerous, or just too boring for a human. I think humans utilizing automation and AI will take jobs away from humans who are not (utilizing automation).”
Go to Robots and AI are taking over factory floors, but manufacturing still needs the human touch for the full story.
Harnessing AI to help pinpoint cancerous tumours
Engineers from the University of Waterloo are harnessing artificial intelligence to help doctors better see and control a non-invasive cancer treatment and, in the process, save lives.
Their imaging system will allow for the safer and more effective use of high-intensity, focused ultrasound to destroy a wide range of cancerous, often deadly, tumours.
“We are addressing a huge challenge for focused ultrasound treatment,” explained project leader Moslem Sadeghi Goughari, a research associate in the university’s Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. “Our imaging system can tell doctors exactly how much of a cancerous tissue is destroyed. And it’s the first AI-powered ultrasound technique developed for focused ultrasound treatment.”