9-13 June 2025
The University of Lincoln proudly presents the 2025 Robotics and AI Days (RAIDs) – a dynamic week-long celebration of cutting-edge research, collaborative innovation, and interdisciplinary excellence. Running from Monday 9 June to Friday 13 June 2025, RAIDs brings together our leading researchers, students, industry partners, and the wider community to explore the transformative potential of robotics and artificial intelligence.
Led by the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems (L-CAS) in partnership with the Laboratory of Vision Engineering (LoVE) and the Machine Learning Research Group (mLearn), RAIDs showcases Lincoln’s research excellence in Robotics and AI whilst fostering new collaborations and funding opportunities.
Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Format | Venue | Invited Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 10 June | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM | RAISE: Robotics and AI Showcase Event | In-person | Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building Atrium (LMS) | Open to all university community and general public |
| Tuesday 10 June | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM | Robotics and AI Social | In-person | LMS Atrium | invitation only |
| Wednesday 11 June | 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Data Breakfast Workshop | Hybrid (In-person & online) | David Chiddick Building (DCB1111) | All university members and invited guests |
| Wednesday 11 June | 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Lecture: Fusion of AI and Robotics: from ChatGPT to robotic foundation models | In-person | SLB0006 | All university members |
| Thursday 12 June | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Sandpit D: Heritage & Cultures of Creativity | In-person | Isaac Newton Building (INB3102) | Registration required – limited places, at discretion of event organisers |
| Thursday 12 June | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Sandpit B: Energy & Net Zero | In-person | David Chiddick Building (DCB1103) | Registration required – limited places, at discretion of event organisers |
| Thursday 12 June | 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM | Sandpit C: Rural Health & Care | In-person | David Chiddick Building (DCB2105) | Registration required – limited places, at discretion of event organisers |
| Friday 13 June | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Sandpit A: Agri-Food & Technology | In-person | Isaac Newton Building (INB3102) | Registration required – limited places, at discretion of event organisers |
| Friday 13 June | 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Sandpit Panel Pitches | In-person | Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building (LMS0005) | Sandpit participants, Members of the University of Lincoln, and invited attendees |
Main Events
RAISE: Robotics and AI Showcase Event
Tuesday 10 June 2025, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Venue: Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building Atrium (LMS), University of Lincoln
RAISE serves as our flagship demonstration of Lincoln’s capabilities in Robotics and AI. This high-profile event features interactive demonstrations with live robots and AI systems, multi-screen displays highlighting current research, and exhibits delivered by researchers from all career stages. The event creates networking opportunities between researchers, industry partners, and potential collaborators whilst showcasing the breadth and diversity of our research community.
Find the venue:
Registration requested: Please register your attendance at https://lncn.ac/attendraise, by Friday 6/6/2025. By registering, we can ensure we have appropriate catering for all attendees and it allows us to keep you informed about any updates. Further, when registering, you can choose to:
- Attend the RAISE showcase only
- Already express interest in participating in our research sandpits (see below)
Open to everyone – students, staff, and the general public. You can show up spontaneously to RAISE, even if you have not registered, but we would very much appreciate if you do to help us organise better.
Add RAISE to your calendar: Google Calendar | Outlook
Data Breakfast Workshop
Wednesday 11 June 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Join us for an informal “show and tell” workshop exploring the University of Lincoln’s unique data assets in Data Science, AI, Robotics, and Machine Learning. This collaborative breakfast session brings together researchers from across the university to showcase existing datasets, discuss infrastructure needs, and identify new opportunities for data-driven research.
Key Features:
- Hybrid Format: Attend in person or via Microsoft Teams
- Continental Breakfast: Included for in-person attendees
- Interactive Showcases: Health & care data, agricultural & robotics datasets, computer vision & imaging assets
- Infrastructure Focus: Digital delivery overview and infrastructure planning
- Open to All University Members: University community members and invited guests welcome
The Data Breakfast Workshop serves as an ideal foundation for the week’s sandpit sessions by identifying data resources and collaboration opportunities that can inform interdisciplinary research proposals.
Learn More about the Data Breakfast & Register →
Additional events include the Robotics and AI Social, a team-building event, open to the members of our research communities (research unit members and sandpit participants).
Robotics and AI Sandpits
Thursday, 12/6/2025 & Friday, 13/6/2025
Venue: Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building (LMS), University of Lincoln
Dates and times for the individual sandpits will be finalised in due course, pending confirmation from our external and internal stakeholders.
Our RAI sandpits are inspired by UKRI sandpits. They are collaborative innovation sessions aligned with four of Lincoln’s research priority areas. We have designed 4 different sandpits. If you want to know more about any of the specific sandpits, you can click the “email” link to send an email to the organisers for each sandpit, who will get back to you.
- Agri-food and Technology (email the sandpit team)
- Energy & Net Zero (email the sandpit team)
- Rural Health & Care (email the sandpit team)
- Heritage & Cultures of Creativity (email the sandpit team)
Each sandpit brings together robotics and AI researchers with domain experts (from within the university and external) to tackle real-world problems through a structured approach from challenge identification to proposal development.
The sandpits follow a five-phase structure: challenge identification, ideation, consolidation, presentation preparation, and critique. These sessions are designed to generate new interdisciplinary research collaborations and develop concrete funding proposals that bridge technological innovation with societal needs.
Registration required – You can already sign up also for sandpits, together with your sign-up for RAISE via https://lncn.ac/attendraise or last minute during RAISE. Places are limited though, and the organisers reserve the right to reject interested participants.
Sandpit Panel Pitches
Friday 13 June 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
These conclude the week with teams presenting their innovative proposals to a panel of university leadership and research experts. Each proposal receives dedicated time for presentation and constructive feedback, with support available for further development into funding applications through our pump-priming fund.
Get Involved
RAIDs offers exceptional opportunities for researchers to showcase their work, students to explore cutting-edge research and postgraduate opportunities, and industry partners to connect with Lincoln’s vibrant research community. Whether you’re interested in exhibiting at RAISE, participating in our sandpits, or showcasing your robotics and AI research, we welcome active participation from across the University and beyond.
Register for the RAISE and any sandpits: https://lncn.ac/attendraise
Contact: mhanheide@lincoln.ac.uk
Organising Committee
General Chairs: Prof Marc Hanheide, Dr James Brown, and Dr Mamatha Thota