Author: Katherine Christensen

Jacqueline Greentree is a PhD researcher based at Queensland University of Technology and her project is part of the Human-Robot Workforce Program at the Australian Cobotics Centre.
Her current research interests include education, government policy and the intersection in preparing people for the workplaces of the future.

We interviewed Jacqueline recently to find out more about why she does what she does.

• Tell us a bit about yourself and your research with the Centre?

I have worked in education in some form across my career starting in Government and Vocational Education and Training (VET), moving to school education and VET in Schools and most recently working in Higher Education in a range of professional positions. My research seeks to understand how well VET education prepares those seeking work in advanced manufacturing considering the technological disruptions created through the adoption of new technologies (Industry 4.0). It also seeks to discover potential improvements in policy settings to bridge the skills gap in technical and digital domains for manufacturing to ensure a responsive training system to meet future skills needs.

• Why did you decide to be a part of the Australian Cobotics Centre?

It was a great opportunity to be part of some research that spans different disciplines but working together to achieve some new and different things. It was also an opportunity to learn more about how we will be working in the future as technology is rapidly changing work and workplaces. It was also an opportunity to dedicate myself fully to something new and different.

• What project are you most proud of throughout your career and why?

Completing my Masters of Philosophy, it was a long road to get there and had to balance a research project while doing a demanding full time job. I am enjoying being part of the centre and not having to work full-time in a different field while trying to complete the research.

• What do you hope the long-term impact of your work will be?

I hope it continues the conversation about the way we educate people and whether the ways we have been doing that are still fit for our current world of learning and work. I would like for it open up new possibilities for considering how we move through education systems in Australia and possibly have different ways of gaining skills that are recognised by industry.

• Aside from your research, what topic could you give an hour-long presentation on with little to no preparation?

I find it difficult to talk for an hour on anything. If it was not my research then benefits of outdoor education/adventure challenges for kids to build resilience, perseverance and to be open to taking some appropriate risks.

Massive congratulations to our PhD researcher, Barış Balcı who completed his final seminar today!

His thesis is entitled: Methods for Robotic Surface Finishing. His supervisory team include Professor Jonathan Roberts, Associate Professor Jared Donovan and Distinguished Professor Peter Corke and the review panel included Dr Christopher Lehnert, Dr Fangyi Zhang and Associate Professor Mats Isaksson.

His project addresses the challenges of using industrial robots in the surface finishing processes of custom-manufactured goods. Unlike mass manufacturing, in which goods are produced in high volumes with relatively non-changing manufacturing processes, custom manufacturing needs to overcome frequent process changes to deliver different products. These changes create multiple challenges such as cell design and reprogramming for implementing robotics into custom manufacturing scenarios.

Surface finishing for custom-manufactured products currently relies on high-skilled human operators to achieve the required level of position and force accuracy for the desired outcome. The project has created prototype tools for easing the integration of industrial robots into custom surface finishing operations while combining the knowledge of the human operator and the physical capabilities of the industrial robots.

As part of his thesis, Baris will have three papers published. The first two are below with a third to come in the new year:

* B. Balci, J. Donovan, J. Roberts, and P. Corke, “Optimal Workpiece Placement Based on Robot Reach, Manipulability and Joint Torques,” 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). IEEE, May 29, 2023.

* B. Balci, J. Roberts, J. Donovan, and P. Corke, “Force Controlled Robotic Surface Finishing with Variable Tool Centre Point (TCP),” 2023 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE). Accepted, May 25, 2023.

Barış originally started his PhD as part of the Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC) Design Robotics project with UAP | Urban Art Projects and ARM Hub (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing). He had to pause his PhD for 2 years during the pandemic. When he returned, we were lucky enough to have him join our Centre.

We’d like to officially welcome three new Associate PhD Researchers to the Australian Cobotics Centre team.

• Bochao Xu (UTS), Designing Socio Technical Robotic Systems
• Tom Long (QUT), Human Robot Interaction
• Wei Win Loy (QUT), Human Robot Interaction & Designing Socio Technical Robotic Systems

Congratulations to our PhD Researchers who passed their confirmation of candidature over the past month!

1. Jacqueline Greentree from QUT (Queensland University of Technology). The review panel included Prof Greg Hearn and Prof Carol Richards. Jacqueline’s supervisors (Prof Paula McDonald and Dr Melinda Laundon) were also in attendance. More information about her project can be found on our website: HERE
2. Nisar Ahmed Channa from QUT (Queensland University of Technology). The review panel included Prof Markus Rittenbruch and A/Prof Penny Williams. Nisar’s supervisors (Prof Greg Hearn, A/Prof Dr Luca Casali and Dr Sean Gallagher) were also in attendance. More information about his project can be found on our website: HERE
3. Nadimul Haque from University of Technology Sydney. More information about his project can be found on our website: HERE
4. Munia Ahamed from University of Technology Sydney. More information about his project can be found on our website: HERE