(CardiffMet, UK) Cardiff Metropolitan University Strengthens Postgraduate Education & Innovation with ER Semi-humanoid Robot

The Eureka Robotics Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s School of Technologies is one of the UK’s leading robotics institutes. Known for its modern facilities and forward-thinking approach, the university has developed postgraduate-level courses built around the 13-DOF semi-humanoid robot myBuddy, helping students explore complex topics like kinematic analysis and degrees of freedom through hands-on learning.

Yang, a lecturer and coordinator, noted, “With the visual modular programming tool Blockly, students can control the educational robot using drag-and-drop blocks, observe movements and refine their code in real time, fostering practical skill development and sparking creativity.”

Compared to traditional teaching, integrating myBuddy allows students to transform theoretical knowledge into interactive and tangible experiences. Bai, a postgraduate, noted, “As a beginner, I start with Blockly and Python to explore myBuddy’s motion. Then I introduce ROS to build familiarity with Linux-based robotics development.”

Through myBuddy, students gain real-world experience in automation and robotics, demonstrating that advanced research can be both accessible and transformative. As a PhD candidate and research assistant, Hu highlighted, single robot arms are common in labs, but the dual-arm design of myBuddy offers unique insights into the opportunities and challenges of humanoid robot development.