Our research group is the hub of a centre of excellence, called RoboStar

In 2018, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the University of York agreed to establish a centre of excellence on Software Engineering for Robotics. 

In the five years since, we have carried out research to develop a rich framework of notations and techniques to model and verify control software for robotic systems. 

Through collaboration with academia and industry, across institutions in the UK and five other countries, we have defined and mechanised the RoboStar approach to Software Engineering for Robotics.  It is supported by a collection of tools and demonstrated by dozens of examples.

How can roboticists effectively and efficiently apply modern approaches to design and verification of software when developing their systems, especially those that are safety or mission-critical? This is the problem being solved by RoboStar.

We are interested in application areas such as assistive care, agriculture, emergency response, lab automation, and logistics.

Contact us

Professor Ana Cavalcanti

Professor Ana Cavalcanti

Software Engineering for Robotics Research Group lead

ana.cavalcanti@york.ac.uk

We are offering four fully-funded PhD studentships, starting in September 2025. Find out more

Stories

Group members

Photo Contact details
Academic staff

Professor Ana Cavalcanti

Academic staff - group lead

ana.cavalcanti@york.ac.uk

Dr Simon Foster

Dr Simon Foster

Academic staff

simon.foster@york.ac.uk

Dr Alvaro Miyazawa

Dr Alvaro Miyazawa

Academic staff

alvaro.miyazawa@york.ac.uk

Dr Pedro Ribeiro

Dr Pedro Ribeiro

Academic staff

pedro.ribeiro@york.ac.uk

 

Professor Jim Woodcock

Professor Jim Woodcock

Emeritus Professor

jim.woodcock@york.ac.uk

Research staff
Arjun Badyal

Arjun Badyal

Research Staff

arjun.badyal@york.ac.uk

Dr James Baxter

Dr James Baxter

Research associate

james.baxter@york.ac.uk

 

Dr Sinem Getir Yaman

Research associate (shared with HISE)

sinem.getir.yaman@york.ac.uk

 

Dr Kangfeng Ye

Dr Kangfeng Ye

Research associate

kangfeng.ye@york.ac.uk

 

Postgraduate research students
Lex Bailey

Lex Bailey

Postgraduate research student

djab501@york.ac.uk

Tom Gebert

Tom Gebert

Postgraduate research student

tgg516@york.ac.uk

Holly Hendry

Holly Hendry

Postgraduate research student

hrh517@york.ac.uk

Christian Laursen 

Christian Laursen

Postgraduate research student

christian.laursen@york.ac.uk

Annabelle Partis

Annabelle Partis

Postgraduate research student

alp565@york.ac.uk

 

Other affiliates
Professor Jon Timmis

Professor Jon Timmis

Visiting associate

 

Contact us

Professor Ana Cavalcanti

Professor Ana Cavalcanti

Software Engineering for Robotics Research Group lead

ana.cavalcanti@york.ac.uk