Software & Technology

Robotics is an emerging sector in Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics - a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University - conducts research and provides education up to PhD level. The £22.4 million National Robotarium opened in Edinburgh in September 2022. 

"We are a centre of research excellence, with world-class, top-quality scientific research in robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence. As a world-leading centre, the international prestige of our work attracts global interest that in turn brings businesses to Scotland. It also helps us create exciting start-ups, aligning what they do with relevant business sectors and connecting them with international marketplaces."

– Professor David Lane, Director, Edinburgh Centre of Robotics

Edinburgh-based companies active in this burgeoning sector include Robotical (the creator of the programmable robot "Marty"); Crover (the developer of Crover, a robotic device for monitoring stored bulk solids such as grain); SeeByte (which develops software for autonomous underwater vehicles and sensors); ScrubMarine, a start-up from Heriot-Watt University (developer of an autonomous system for inspecting and cleaning ship hulls, helping reduce costs associated with biofouling); and Danu Robotics, developer of the waste-sorting robot H.E.R.O.. Other local companies inclue The Robot Group, which assists companies with identifying the appropriate humanoid robots for their business needs, and which is the UK distributor for X-HUMANOID's TianGong and Tianyi robots.

"Scotland has a strong engineering and maritime heritage, and Edinburgh has been a great base for developing this technology. Shipping’s efficiency and safety challenges are global, but they’re exactly the kind of real-world problems robotics is well placed to solve." 

– Rohith Devanathan, Chief Executive Office and Co-Founder, ScrubMarine

Global robotics companies with a presence in Edinburgh include the United States-based manufacturing automation specialist Launchpad.build, which operates a research and development hub in Edinburgh.

In 2025, researchers from the University of Edinburgh developed "soft robots": 3D-printed robots made using soft plastics and powered by air pressure. In 2026, researchers from the University of Edinburgh developed biohybrid magnetic microbots made from microalgae as a vehicle for administering the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin to tumours within the human body.