In this roundtable edition, we watched the Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation” and asked our Robohub team members: with many institutions focused on developing aerial drone technology, and in light of the pressing reality of climate change and bee colony collapse, do we see robotic bees in our future? Would swarms of artificial insects even be desirable?

Michael Szollosy at Sheffield Robotics explores many of the themes in the Westworld reboot from a philosophical aspect, and questions what it is to ‘become human.’

Cinemagoers have long been fascinated by fictional robots, but they’re not usually realistic — until now. Thanks to technological advancements, some of the classic movie robots are now a realistic possibility. If you make some allowances for their limited artificial intelligence, we’re pretty close to making fiction a reality. Let’s look at some of the iconic movie robots that could now be possible thanks to current robotic technologies …

Ava, android star of British indie film The Machine, is a robot to be reckoned with.

It may be low budget, but sci-fi adventure Robot Overlords is an action-packed feast full of technical prowess. Learn about the tech and VFX that made these robots so convincing on the silver screen.