# Episode Twenty-Eight: Amanda Prorok

- Show: [Robot Talk](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk)
- Published: 2022-12-02
- Length: 21m
- Episode: 28
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok
- Listen: https://ukrobotics.libsyn.com/episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok

## Summary

Professor Amanda Prorok from the University of Cambridge discusses coordination challenges in multi-robot systems, focusing on multi-agent path finding and the transition from caged environments to mixed human-robot spaces like Amazon warehouses. She explains how collaborative driving algorithms, inspired by ant behavior, can increase traffic throughput by 30% in lab tests, though she argues that infrastructure augmentation is key to widespread autonomous adoption. The conversation also covers the use of drones and underwater robots for environmental monitoring, highlighting the limitations of GPS in dense forests and the potential of sensor networks on public transport.

## Chapters

- [0:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok#t=7) Introduction: Amanda Prorok and Multi-Robot Coordination
- [1:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok#t=97) Multi-Agent Path Finding and Warehouse Automation
- [5:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok#t=359) Centralized vs. Decentralized Control Architectures
- [7:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok#t=478) Collaborative Driving Algorithms and Traffic Throughput
- [12:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok#t=743) Infrastructure Augmentation for Autonomous Vehicles
- [15:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-02-episode-twenty-eight-amanda-prorok#t=946) Environmental Monitoring with Drones and Underwater Systems

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Amazon (company)
- Okado (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [134. Can We Trust Self-Driving Cars? 🚗💥](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-08-08-134-can-we-trust-self-driving-cars) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [FedEx's parcel-handling robots; Waymo & Fiat; MassRobotics on startups dealing with COVID-19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2020-07-22-fedexs-parcel-handling-robots-waymo-fiat-massrobotics-on-startups-dealing-with-c) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [Passenger of confused Waymo robotaxi discusses what went wrong](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-05-19-passenger-of-confused-waymo-robotaxi-discusses-what-went-wrong) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [103. Ant Inspired Swarm Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-01-03-103-ant-inspired-swarm-robots) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [George Konidaris on Realtime Robotics future; Intel LiDAR update](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-09-03-george-konidaris-on-realtime-robotics-future-intel-lidar-update) (The Robot Report Podcast)

## Citing this page

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