Robotics & automation

Robotics and automation have enormous potential to affect positive change for government, industry and the wider community. The Robotics Institute develops mechanical solutions that address a range of social and commercial challenges such as improving worker health and safety, increasing productivity and assisting people living with disability. The team specialises in robotics for unknown and complex environments and works with Tech Lab on projects that encompass asset management, industry 4.0 and agricultural automation.

 

Areas of expertise

Field robotics

Sensing, perception and control of intelligent machines in unstructured environments.

Robot teams

Coordinating teams of robots to accomplish spatially distributed tasks.

Infrastructure & asset management

Using field robotics to support inspection and maintenance of core infrastructure and utilities including bridges, waterways and water/electricity networks.

Transport & logistics

Mathematical modelling and re-planning algorithms that enable organisations to optimise processes, lower costs and reduce safety risks for workers and users.

Agriculture & livestock assessment

Automating activities in order to streamline the supply chain.

Mining safety

Providing localisation and mapping information in unstructured mine environments.

Advanced manufacturing & 3D printing

Improving the quality of workplace outputs and reducing the need for humans to engage in laborious, repetitive or high-risk tasks.

Assistive robotics & robot-human interaction (cobots)

Supporting humans to undertake a range of tasks (manufacturing, search and rescue). Assisting the elderly and people with disabilities to engage more fully with life (intelligent patient transfer, walking assistant, step-climbing wheelchair, robotic exoskeleton).