Yvan specialises in marine robotics and sensing and is an expert in autonomous systems, sensor processing and fusion and control and autonomy applied to the subsea domain.  He manages a portfolio of £3M grants covering all aspects of marine robotics. He is particularly interested in inspection and intervention offshore using multi-vehicle systems that can team and collaborate with human operators and soon supervisors using advanced AI approaches.

Yvan Petillot is a Professor of Robotics and Autonomous Systems at Heriot-Watt University. He the co-academic lead of the National Robotarium and the chair of Robotics theme of the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering. He is interested in developing robotics solutions in the marine sector, supporting his long-term vision of robot teams operating in hazardous environments, supported by remote human operators. Over the last 20 years, he has made major contributions to robot perception, navigation and planning in the underwater domain. A former Royal Society Industry Fellow and the co-founder of SeeByte Ltd, Yvan Petillot is also determined to see academic research translate into new products and markets. He has created several EU robotics competitions to support the development of new talents in robotics in Europe.