A multidisciplinary team of QUT researchers will lead a new Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre to develop robotics applications to combine the strengths of humans and robots in shared environments.
Professor Jonathan Roberts, a Chief Investigator with the QUT Centre for Robotics who will head up the ARC Training Centre for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing, said the centre will build the human and technical capability Australia needs to underpin our global competitiveness in advanced manufacturing.
The Centre includes manufacturing businesses, and researchers from University of Technology Sydney and Swinburne University of Technology.
It will focus on developing collaborative robotics applications that combine the strengths of humans and robots in shared work environments.
“The Centre will train researchers, engineers, designers, technologists and manufacturing leaders with the expertise industry needs to boost safety, quality assurance, production efficiency, and workforce readiness,” Professor Roberts said.
“The intended outcome is to help Australian manufacturers shift toward higher-potential markets, compete globally and attract and retain a digitally-capable workforce for the future.”
Professor Roberts said Australian manufacturing had an opportunity to be more globally competitive by improving manufacturing processes which would lower production costs and boost productivity.
The centre will run for five years and will have five research programs covering:
- Biomimetic cobots
- Human-robot interaction
- Designing socio-technical robotic systems
- Quality assurance and compliance
- Human-robot workforce
