Prof Amanda Prorok

The Prorok Lab at the University of Cambridge is a global leader in multi-agent systems, specializing in the algorithmic coordination of robot collectives to solve complex real-world problems. Professor Prorok was among the first to address the synthesis of inter-robot coordination policies through data-driven approaches, which facilitated the deployment of much larger-scale systems than previously possible. This research has provided foundational solutions for a wide array of applications, including automated logistics, transport, and the orchestration of large-scale robotic fleets. Further, her work has shifted the industry paradigm by treating robot diversity as a core asset for system resilience and by pioneering "environment co-design," where the physical world is optimized to act as a structural co-pilot for safer navigation. To scale these systems beyond the limitations of individual hardware, the lab also leverages environmental infrastructure as a shared cognitive resource for decentralized perception, effectively democratizing advanced capabilities. Lastly, addressing the modern challenge of securing AI intellectual property, the lab recently developed a breakthrough watermarking strategy that embeds a spectral "fingerprint" into a robot’s motion. This innovation allows for the first-ever remote verification of robotic software—using external observations like video footage—to ensure safety compliance and protect ownership without requiring internal system access or degrading performance.