VentureFest 2015: Celebrating Innovation in Bristol, UK

The Bristol based Robotics Innovation Facility (RIF@BRL) had the pleasure of being a part of this year’s VentureFest in Bristol on June 9th. The annual event showcases Bristol’s much celebrated standing as the UK’s leading centre for innovation, aerospace and high-tech development attracting visitors from across the South West region and beyond.

Over 1,600 people attended the event taking in a series of motivational talks, industrial seminars and product demonstrations. One of the main attractions at this year’s event was the chance to get up and personal with the city’s very own driverless car “Wildcat”. The Venturer Consortium leading the Wildcact project will see autonomous car trials being conducted throughout the City of Bristol over a 36 month period starting in July 2015.

Another headline grabbing act at this year’s event was the showcasing of affordable 3D printed prosthetic hand from Open Bionics. The Bristol based start-up company has received plaudits from all over the world in its development of modular robot hands and prosthetic devices which can be produced for less than €1,400, a stark contrast to the existing cost from €25,000 to €100,000. We are delighted to announce the RIF@BRL is finalising the details to welcome Open Bionics onto the RIF support programme to assist in product development.

With such a high number of visitors at this year’s event visiting our RIF@BRL stand we had the opportunity to talk to businesses interested in exploring what the facility had to offer and how they can apply to access the different types of support available. Many companies expressed an interest in engaging with not just the Bristol based RIF, but the entire RIF network including the facilities in France & Italy.

It was extremely insightful and enthusing to witness the desire and motivation by companies ranging from the small start-ups to large global corporations wanting to take advantage of the provision of high-tech hardware & software across Europe to further product development and explore robotic and automative solutions. Our biggest challenge may now be how to satisfy such demand!