Intelligent robotic care assistants and "wearable computers" that could help jog your memory will be among the projects tackled by a new robotics research facility in Bristol that will be the largest laboratory of its kind in Britain.

Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), founded by the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol, will be based at the Bristol Business Park.

From next year, more than 50 scientists will work there on "intelligent robots, designed to cooperate with people and work autonomously". Its backers are predicting that the robots it builds will eventually shape our daily lives.

Lord Sainsbury, the Science and Innovation Minister, said: "Robotics will have a significant social and economic impact in the 21st Century. The new laboratory will provide the focus for cutting-edge collaboration between UK industry and universities in this rapidly evolving technology. Investment in new facilities such as this will help contribute to making the UK the best place in the world for science and innovation."

Professor Chris Melhuish, the BRL Director, said: "BRL will bring together university and industrial researchers in a wide range of projects ... the UK will be in a position to compete internationally with the leaders in this field, such as those in Japan and the States. It is a fantastic opportunity for both universities and the region."

Over the past 30 years, materials and technologies have been developed which have allowed robots to slim down and become useful in the home. Where, in the 1980s, robots were largely confined to large-scale industrial tasks such as auto manufacture, now you can but one to mow your lawn or vacuum your carpet.

The Bristol centre is promising to work on the "domestic and industrial cleaning robots to do the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs none of us want". Other projects range from "novel forms of prosthesis and artificial limbs" to robotic pets.

Alfred Morris, Vice-Chancellor at UWE said: "The UK's international competitors have been investing in this area for a while. For example, Japan has a major programme which has linked university research with industry; China is investing heavily in the education of a new generation of technologists and the US has a long-term agenda.

"The challenge for the UK is to build on world-class expertise to create a presence on the world stage."

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