Darwin Caldwell, Professor of Advanced Robotics at the University of Salford, UK, holding an umbrella over a robotic gorilla he co-created. Professor Caldwell has carried out research in many areas of robotics including telepresence, robotic manipulators, bipedal robot walking, virtual reality applications and actuator (movement-producing) systems. The gorilla robot uses pneumatic muscle actuators (contracting tubes with some of the advantages of natural muscles). These allow it to make precise movements, while still providing a high power-to-weight ratio (the robot weighs less than 10kg). Photographed in 2002.