Pat Fothergill facts for kids

Ann Patricia "Pat" Fothergill (born Waddington, later Ambler; 13 February 1936 – 28 January 2017) was a very important person in the world of robotics. She helped create robots and the special computer languages that control them. She worked in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) department at the University of Edinburgh. Later, in 1986, she moved to the University of Aberdeen to become a senior lecturer in the Department of Computing. She stayed there until she passed away.

Early life and education

Pat Fothergill was born in Woodford Wells, England, in 1936. When she was young, her family moved to Singapore and then to South Africa. This was because of her father's job as a civil engineer.

She went to Dorking County Grammar School. There, she was a Prefect, which is like a student leader. She also won the Governors' Prize for doing very well in her studies. Pat was excellent at math and science. For her A-Level exams, she studied Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. She got a top grade in Pure Mathematics. She also received a special scholarship from the UK Ministry of Education. This scholarship allowed her to attend Newnham College, Cambridge, a famous university.

At Cambridge, she studied for the Natural Sciences Tripos. This is a special course where she focused on Chemistry, Physics, Biological Chemistry, and Mathematics. She also studied Archaeology and Anthropology. She earned her first degree (BA) in 1957 and a master's degree (MA) in 1961.

Career

After finishing her studies, Pat Fothergill stayed at Cambridge. Her first husband, Richard Ambler, was a student there too. Pat worked as an information officer for the organic chemistry department. She worked with a famous scientist named Alexander R. Todd.

In 1968, she joined the AI laboratory at the University of Edinburgh. Here, she became a research scientist. She helped create a special computer language for robots called RAPT. This language helped tell robots what to do. She worked with other smart people like Robin Popplestone and Rod Burstall.

While working at Aberdeen, Pat wrote an important paper with Jonathan C Aylett and Robert B Fisher. The paper was called "WPFM: the Workspace Prediction and Fast Matching Algorithm." This work was later included in a book by John E. W. Mayhew and John P. Frisby. The book was about how computers can recognize 3D models using special visual clues.

See also

In Spanish: Pat Fothergill para niños