“We are living in a time of major changes in our surrounding world, with conflicts and geopolitical tensions, which are particularly evident in the expansion of national defence. Basic research in engineering sciences must rise to meet this,” says Erik G. Larsson, professor at Linköping University and director of ELLIIT.
ELLIIT is a strategic research area in IT and mobile communications that was designated by the Swedish government in 2010. The abbreviation stands for Excellence Centre at Linköping–Lund in Information Technology. The participating institutions are Linköping University, Lund University, Blekinge Institute of Technology and Halmstad University.
“Our overall aim is to conduct basic research at the absolute forefront of the research field, and to educate the next generation of engineers and PhD graduates for Swedish industry. Another goal is to generate research results that industry can adopt and commercialise,” says Erik G. Larsson.
Anna Nilsen
Now, 25 new ELLIIT research projects have seen the light of day. The projects concern, among other things, the development of next-generation mobile communications – 6G, advanced machine learning, and the interaction between humans and automated robots.
Safety and robots that learn
One of the projects tackles the challenge of robotics capable of moving and performing varied tasks in different environments. To succeed, the researchers believe the robot will need both to learn from how others have performed the task previously, so-called expert data, and to experiment on its own, learning from mistakes.
Another project focuses on developing rescue drones, collaborative robots and vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems. To make these “intelligent” machines safer, the researchers will develop a cloud-based AI service that monitors the systems and helps them make better decisions in real time. The development may be of great benefit to society, as many similar systems are already part of our everyday lives.
A third project concentrates on how a human operator can control several robots or drones simultaneously across large and varied environments. To achieve this, researchers will develop a form of AI assistant that can understand what the robots see, use human language, and propose or carry out actions.
“Research today is highly competitive internationally, and it is tough to assert oneself in that context. Our most important tools are to fund the best ideas and provide researchers with support and mentorship so they can develop their work, together with a new generation of doctoral students whom we educate and prepare for their future careers,” says Erik G. Larsson.
Read more about the projects at elliit.se
