A first-hand experience of a loved one losing their mobility was one of the reasons Julian Turner joined Centaur Robotics.
Like many of his colleagues, he was dismayed at the lack of choice for those with limited mobility. It was the Centaur that stood out as the chair that would most help his father, who struggled to walk short distances after he hit his head in a fall.
And Julian’s manufacturing background in the aviation, automotive and autonomous vehicle industries made him the natural choice to help bring the Centaur to market.
“I was really excited by the innovation at Centaur Robotics,” said Julian, who is the company’s chief technology officer. “The Centaur is a fantastic piece of technology and I love seeing people’s reaction to it.”
His experience and contacts in the niche world of automotive and aviation providers, which supply advanced technology across the globe, particularly his work in the UK, the USA, the Middle East and North Africa and China, will help accelerate the Centaur’s route to market.
Working for a UK company, he also helped design, develop, manufacture and certify several autonomous vehicles to support people with mobility and sight issues.
Julian has worked extensively with the RNIB and the Beacon Centre for the Blind and the award-winning ‘Georgie’ phone app, which helps visually impaired people get the most out of a smart phone.
He also worked with the 2012 Paralympic teams at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and has a background in artificial intelligence, including a partnership with world leading experts, which include the father of AI Dr Jurgen Schmidhuber.
Eric Kihlstrom, Centaur Robotics’ CEO, said: “Julian’s background with companies like Boeing and Mott MacDonald as well as his recent work in AI will be extremely helpful to us.”
In the short term, Julian is coordinating both the hardware and software development in the Centaur’s run to market, ensuring that it is built to the best possible quality and is a perfect fit for customers.
This will also include compliance with international build and design standards as well as airport regulations for the version of the Centaur which will revolutionise the travel experience for those with limited mobility.
Julian said: “I got increasingly frustrated at how poor all the wheelchairs are. With my Dad I can see that the Centaur will give him more freedom and independence.”
He was also impressed with the control system – a simple user-friendly joystick – and the innovative lifting chair.
“I also love the look and feel, because to me, it’s a bit like an Apple iPhone. It’s a futuristic looking, great bit of kit. I think the Centaur is going to have a big impact on people’s lives and it’s also got a huge amount of potential to disrupt the wheelchair market.
“It’s designed to be put together quickly and to be really user friendly and we’ve designed it to be profitable. So, from an investment and scale-up perspective, I think Centaur Robotics is a really good company to get involved with.”
Julian added: “But for me, if we can make a difference to even one person’s life there’s more joy in that than in anything else.”
