Episode 8 | Professor James Trevelyan — From Shearing Robots to Solving Global Challenges

Episode Notes:

In this episode of The Dirt, we sit down with Professor James Trevelyan — a pioneering robotics researcher, mechanical and mechatronics engineer, and inventor. James led the team behind the Shear Magic robot — one of the world's first automated sheep shearing systems — in the 1980s, and has since built a career spanning IoT, AI, engineering education, and global development.

We cover:

• The story behind the Shear Magic robot — what it was, the technical challenges the team faced, and why it never became a commercial product
• The social pushback to robotic shearing and why the concept still unsettles people today
• Whether autonomous sheep shearing could finally become a reality wi ...