Opinion
London Internet of Things Meetup 153: Where we saw a robot dance
Published on 17 Apr, 2026 by James H.
A warm spring evening in Covent Garden made for the perfect backdrop to IoT London 153 hosted by Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino. Dragon Hall filled up quickly with around 40 attendees spanning the full IoT spectrum, from solution architects, developers, embedded engineers and students through to CTOs, founders and innovators. Add three brilliant speakers, a fine selection of cheeses and a few semi-cold beverages, and you have yourself the setting for a great evening.
Speaker 1
Suyash Joshi - "Code to Motion: Programming a Dancing Robot"
Sr. Developer Advocate · Founder · Creative Technologist · STEM Evangelist
Suyash opened the evening with a session that fully delivered on its title. Equal parts creative thinking, technical theory and live demonstration, the highlight was, as promised, a dancing robot dog. A joyful reminder that the best engineering lives at the intersection of logic and imagination.
Speaker 2
Luke Talbot - "All the Time"
Designer & Researcher
Luke walked us through the development of one of his most thought-provoking projects: a conceptual wall clock that communicates time through colour and shade rather than numbers. Every hour is represented by a distinct colour; every minute within that hour maps to a different shade of that colour, moving from light to dark.
The concept is a deliberate challenge to our rigid, schedule-driven relationship with time. In an era where smartphones have absorbed so many of our physical touchpoints, Luke's clock asks a simple question: what if we measured our day by light and hue instead of digits? (just like old times) One of those ideas that feels obvious in hindsight and yet genuinely radical in practice.
Speaker 3
Jonathan Custance - "From Cattle to Tango: Real-World AI and Gen AI in Action"
CEO, Green Custard
Jonathan rounded off the evening with a sharp, practical look at AI and Generative AI: what separates them, where they converge, and why getting the data right is the foundation for both. Rather than staying theoretical, he anchored everything in two real-world deployments.
Cattle Eye uses low-cost cameras and AI to analyse cow movement, generating mobility and body condition scores that give early warning of potential health issues. The numbers speak for themselves:
- Severe lameness reduced by 4× (Liverpool study)
- ~10% fewer cases, saving around £200 per cow and 0.6t of CO₂
- 150,000+ cows monitored across 100+ farms, generating 88 million+ insights
Aqua Libra's IoT-connected Flavour Tap, a Carlsberg Britvic brand, replaces bottles and cans in offices and public spaces with smart dispensers offering hot, cold, still and sparkling flavoured hydration. Generative AI pulls together IoT data to power support automation and keep the taps running reliably.
- The average office wastes around 23,000 bottles per year
- Each cartridge swap saves approximately 1,000 bottles
- 99% less packaging waste versus packaged soft drinks
- Over 3 million drinks served across deployments so far
Jonathan didn't shy away from the harder questions either, covering the practical challenges of working with AI at scale, including managing model hallucinations, misinformation, ethical use and the risk of bias amplification. Real-world deployments deserve honest conversations, and this one delivered.
It was a great evening, rounded off with some excellent networking across the IoT community. Green Custard was proud to sponsor alongside Aqua Libra, and we look forward to the next one.
If you haven't attended before and IoT is your world, come and join us; the meetup runs monthly. Find upcoming events at iot.london