Keywords
Citation
(2002), "BARA goes from strength to strength", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2002.04929eab.010
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
BARA goes from strength to strength
BARA goes from strength to strength
Keywords: IFR, UK, BARA
The British Automation and Robot Association (BARA) is going from strength to strength. Addressing the recent Annual General Meeting at the University of Warwick, Chairman Ken Young announced a 50 percent increase in membership since the last AGM. He still sees room for further growth and is offering BARA members the incentive of a bottle of malt whisky for each new member that they introduce to the Association.
With a record number of 2,000 robots installed in the UK during 2001, the industry is buoyant, but heavily reliant on the automotive sector. Ken Young suggested that BARA needs to work on developing the non-automotive sectors. It is a problem that could be tackled through BARA presence at exhibitions, he added.
The robotics village that the Association set up for the recent Automation and Robotics Exhibition at the NEC was a great success, attracting a great deal of interest, said Ken Young. He proposes organising similar demonstrations at other exhibitions, as a future activity.
New BARA special interest groups(SIGs) are taking shape. In addition to the existing SIG on industrial robots, the Association is setting up a SIG to address safety issues and is re-activating another that concentrates on advanced robotics. Also being formed are two new SIGs in the areas of training and academia. One topic that the training SIG could focus on is the development of a generic qualification for robot programmers.
The academia group would build up a database of specialist research activities in the UK. This, said Ken Young, is badly needed as there is a high level of demand from the media for information that should be directed to the right specialists.
Information is, of course, readily available on the BARA Web site, which is attracting an average of 100 hits per day, Ken Young reported. These are split equally between those looking for robot suppliers and those seeking educational material.