Meet the team

Dr Fred Labrosse leads ANTUR and has extensive experience in robotics systems designed to operate across complex, natural landscapes. 

His research focuses on enabling robots to navigate autonomously over varied terrain and along tracks, supporting applications such as land surveying, logistics, and remote inspection. A key theme of his work is robust, practical navigation in outdoor environments, using cameras alongside complementary sensors including IMUs, GNSS, and LiDAR. 

Dr Labrosse is particularly interested in approaches that allow robots to be guided using descriptive, human-understandable routes, rather than relying solely on precise coordinate-based navigation. This focus aligns closely with real-world deployment challenges, where environments are dynamic, imperfectly mapped, and difficult to control. 

As the leader of ANTUR, Dr Labrosse works closely with industry and research partners to design meaningful field trials and ensure that testing delivers actionable technical insight. 

Dr David Jones specialises in digital twin technologies and engineering informatics, with a strong background in systems integration across complex engineering environments. His work focuses on improving the way engineering information is created, managed, and used across the lifecycle of large-scale systems.

He has extensive experience collaborating with industry partners including Airbus and Ford, helping to translate data and engineering knowledge into more effective decision-making and operational practice. A key aspect of his work is the development and application of digital twin approaches that link virtual models with physical assets.

Dr Jones is particularly interested in how virtual–physical integration can be used to optimise whole-system performance, enabling better design, monitoring, and operational efficiency. His work bridges theoretical developments in engineering informatics with practical, real-world implementation in industrial settings.

Jason Brook specialises in autonomous environmental monitoring and precision agri-tech, with a focus on UAV-based systems for agricultural and coastal landscapes. His work centres on the deployment of drone technologies to deliver high-resolution environmental data for practical land and ecosystem management.

He develops and applies LiDAR and multispectral sensing approaches to support the assessment of biomass, habitat condition, and land-use change, enabling more informed environmental decision-making. Alongside aerial systems, he designs and deploys LoRaWAN sensor networks that provide real-time environmental intelligence across distributed sites.

A key strand of his work is the advancement of precision drone-based application systems, including fertiliser and seeding technologies that support low-input, more sustainable farming practices. He also plays an active role in building industry–academic partnerships to accelerate the translation of data-driven approaches into scalable land management solutions.