University College London (UCL) — Department of Computer Science
Welcome to the official repository of the Robotics-Enabled Biology Lab at UCL. Led by Dr. Amir Patel, our lab is dedicated to decoding the secrets of nature's most agile athletes—such as the cheetah—and translating those principles into the next generation of agile, autonomous robots.

The Robotics-Enabled Biology Lab investigates biological systems through the principles of robotics, control, and sensing.

We are a leading research group in the study of cheetah locomotion, developing computational and sensing methodologies to quantitatively understand animal behaviour in natural, high-speed scenarios.

Our work aims to bridge the gap between biological observation and mechanistic understanding, transforming visual data into interpretable models of motion, perception, and control.

We develop non-invasive methods to quantify animal locomotion in unstructured environments. Using our WildPose framework, we fuse data from:

• High-speed cameras & Event-based vision
• Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs)
• LiDAR, RADAR, and GPS

We build physical models (robots) that mirror key biological features. Our research focuses on:

• Manoeuvrability: How tails, spines, and limbs contribute to rapid stabilisation.
• Agility: Translating high-speed predator mechanics into legged robotic hardware.

We apply optimal control and trajectory optimisation to understand the "neuromechanics" of motion. By simulating contact dynamics, we refine how both animals and machines interact with complex terrains.

Dr. Amir Patel is an Associate Professor of Robotics & AI at UCL. Formerly the founder of the African Robotics Unit (ARU), his work has been recognised by the Google Research Scholar Award and the MathWorks Research Award. His mission is to unlock the hidden aspects of animal behaviour to create robots capable of navigating the real world with biological resilience.

We actively collaborate across:

• Robotics
• Computer Vision
• Machine Learning
• Biology

We welcome researchers and students interested in interdisciplinary work at the intersection of robotics and biology.

• Lab Lead: Dr. Amir Patel: amir.patel@ucl.ac.uk
• Institution: University College London (UCL), Department of Computer Science

To understand biological intelligence, we study it as a system — measurable, modelled, and ultimately reproducible.