Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Driven by an unwavering curiosity about worlds beyond our solar system, I. Skillen has been a pivotal architect in the era of robotic exoplanet discovery. Their primary research focus lies in the design, construction, and operation of ultra-wide-field photometric surveys, most notably as a key contributor to the SuperWASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) and WASP projects. Skillen’s major contribution is the development of a fully automated, robotic observatory system capable of monitoring hundreds of square degrees of sky with high precision and cadence. This engineering and scientific feat, detailed in their foundational 2002 paper (14 citations), enabled the detection of exoplanetary transits around bright stars. By establishing the operational status and capabilities of SuperWASP-I in La Palma and SuperWASP-II in South Africa, as documented in their 2004 and 2006 works (8 and 5 citations, respectively), Skillen helped create the world’s leading ground-based transit survey. This work has not only led to the discovery of dozens of exoplanets but also set a new standard for autonomous, wide-field astronomical surveys, profoundly impacting our understanding of planetary systems.