On Robots Seeing, Thinking and Doing at the IMCRC Conference

Four members of the Design Robotics group presented at the recent 2019 IMCRC Conference in Melbourne. PhD candidates Alan Burden and Baris Balci presented their PhD ‘pitch’, along with featured speakers Dr Glenda Caldwell and Dr Jared Donovan. UAP Founder and Managing Director, Matthew Tobin, was a panellist in the discussion on Industry-Research Collaboration: Unlocking Manufacturing Potential in Australia.

Bringing together thought leaders, industry experts, researchers and students exploring advanced and digital technologies, the IMCRC conference progresses discussion about innovative leaps in manufacturing. The event seeks to project the future possibilities for disrupting and transforming Australian manufacturing through industry-led research, accelerating projects and inspiring new ideas.

Seeing

Teaching robots to see was the subject of the featured talk by Dr Glenda Caldwell and Dr Jared Donovan. The audience was invited to imagine the potential of robotic vision in creating beautiful art objects, leading to more jobs in manufacturing.

Thinking

Alan Burden talked about his PhD research on developing new ways to use robots & vision systems for design-led manufacturing. Framing the potential of Design Robotics with a quote from the McKinsey Global Institute, “Every country is going to feel the impact of automation by 2030” the presentation highlighted the how automation will affect industry.

Doing

Baris Balci presented on the development of an automated robotic polishing system for one-of-a-kind production. “It was fascinating to see what can be achieved when the industry and the universities work closely”. Baris observed, “These type of collaborations create opportunities to address the untouched problems in different domains of engineering”.

The event provided many highlights, including hearing about current PhD and other academic research exploring innovative manufacturing techniques. Critically, it was the opportunity to observe direct links between this research and industry that held value for the Design Robotics team. As highlighted in Glenda and Jared’s talk, the opportunity to support design-led and creative approaches to research applies to all disciplines and all questions across industries.