The ‘Control and Robotics’ research group (code TEP 192 in the Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation), was established on the first of January 2001. In the beginning there were very few PhDs and a large number of members of the  Department of Electronic Engineering, Computer Systems and Automation at the University of Huelva. It was a reasonable, new and exciting opportunity for most of the staff of a very young university that was created only 8 years earlier. The TEP 192 research group promoted the first doctoral programme of the department, which permitted many members of the department and others to acquire their PhD degree. It also launched the first official Master in ‘control engineering, electronic systems and industrial informatics’ that promoted mobility, research stays, visiting professors, among others.

The group also began to access competitive research calls (the first project of the National R&D Plan was granted in 2005) and to publish in internationally recognised journals (being the first publication in 2004 in the Journal Citation Reports). In addition, the first PhD theses were obtained in 2009.

Currently, the research group is highly specialised and 14 staffed of which 12 are PhDs. Its quantitative and qualitative growth in scientific production is remarkable: more than 180 publications in prestigious journals; more than 260 conference papers; and more than 120 R&D projects and research grants. In fact, today, the research group operates with more than 5M € from competitive international, national and regional funding. This has allowed the group to hire more than 10 graduates on a project basis, and a large number of doctoral candidates, and visiting professors and students.