BRITISH AUTOMATION AND ROBOT ASSOCIATION

www.bara.org.uk

The British Automation and Robot Association apparently used to be called the British Robot Association. The British Robot Association sounds fantastic, so you wonder why they'd change their name. I'm guessing it's because they realised their initials were BRA and they thought that possibly people wouldn't take them very seriously. What a shame. British Robot Association sounds brilliant. "Automation" is a good word too though. Was there ever a band called Automation? There must have been. I even know what they sound like even though they possibly don't exist.



Good, they've got a picture of a robot on the first page of their website. That's what you want from BRA BARA. It's even a slightly cute robot! At least its face is slightly cute, those spindly arms and legs are a bit scary. "One of the first Humanoid Robots in Britain" is a good way to start a story, isn't it?

I'm not entirely sure how you're supposed to use the website, because there's a menu bar along the top and a quick links menu down the side and they both seem more or less the same. News and Recent News both link to the same page. As do Information and Encyclopedia, and Membership and Join BRA BARA. But who cares? Their newsletter is called QUARTERMATION! They can build ROBOTS! Who am I to criticise these boffins? I like Mike Wilson's email address.

I don't quite understand though. There's a list of applications robots can be used for:

Handling Operations/Moulding/Machine Tending
Arc/Spot/Gas/Laser Welding
Dispensing/Painting/Sealing/Gluing
Loading/Unloading
Cutting/Grinding/Polishing
Laser/Water Jet Cutting
Assembling
Palletising/Packaging
Measurement/Inspection/Testing
Bio-Chemistry and Hazardous Applications

They've missed a few, surely? How about travelling through time to assassinate the woman whose future son would lead a resistance against the machines? Surely you'd use robots for that. And also, surely you'd use a robot to contact Obi-Wan Kenobi and to carry the plans for the Death Star so that the Rebel Alliance is able to destroy it? Actually, there's a bit more detail in this document, maybe they mention the time travelling assassin/contacting Obi-Wan stuff there:

Why Use Robots? When Not to Use Robots, Complexity of Tasks for Robots, Communications, Robot Structures and Their Characteristics, Power Sources, Grippers / End Effectors, Programming Methods, Maintenance Issues, Safety and The Future for Robots.

That document is eighteen pages long. Sod that.