I talk with Jenny Read who is the Programme Director at ARIA (Advanced Research and Invention Agency).

We talk about:
- ARIA's ambitious £50M investment in robotics hardware research
- The need for fundamental breakthroughs in robot hardware and actuation
- How neuroscience insights can inspire better robot design
- Building a research community focused on hardware innovation
- The unique funding approach that encourages high-risk, high-reward projects

You'll like this interview if you're interested in robotics hardware development, research funding initiatives, or the future of robot actuation and control systems.

TRANSCRIPT
- https://audrownashpodcast.com/posts/17-aria/transcript

EPISODE LINKS
- ARIA Website: https://www.aria.org.uk
- ARIA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/advanced-research-and-invention-agency/
- ARIA Twitter/X: https://x.com/ARIA_Research
- Jenny Read's Website: https://www.jennyreadresearch.com/
- Jenny Read's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-read-813a5ba/
- Jenny Read's Twitter/X: https://x.com/jcaread

TIMECODES
(0:00) Start
(0:15) Jenny Read & ARIA Overview
(3:49) Jenny's ARIA Role
(6:26) Robotics Focus
(8:22) Hardware Focus Areas
(9:40) Gear Ratio Discussion
(11:56) Touch Sensing & Robot Fragility
(13:41) Body Design & Neural Control
(19:15) Career Background & Funding
(22:33) Program Focus & Logistics
(27:56) The Dexterity Challenge
(33:31) ARIA Strategy
(42:59) Development Bottlenecks
(45:38) Measuring Success
(48:33) Key Takeaways
(51:52) Outro

Advancing Robot Hardware Innovation through ARIA's New UK Research Initiative