POSTED: 08 Apr, 2025

As part of the Australian Cobotics Centre’s (ACC) ongoing commitment to delivering real-world impact, the Centre has recently commenced a series of in-person Industry Calibration Visits to deepen engagement with our industry partners and ensure our research continues to meet evolving manufacturing needs.

These visits, led by Professor Jochen Deuse (Associate Director for Industry Engagement), are a direct outcome of the Centre’s recent internal review, which highlighted the importance of enhancing industry engagement and knowledge transfer. Jochen is joined on the visits by program leads (Glenda Caldwell, Müge Belek Fialho Teixeira, Michelle Dunn, Mats Isaksson, Markus Rittenbruch) and postdoctoral researchers (Melinda Laundon, Alan Burden, Sheila Sutjipto), reinforcing our holistic approach to cobot implementation and increasing exposure to industry settings for early career researchers. Swinburne Node Leader Mats Isaksson is working with Jochen to ensure that insights from the visits are translated into meaningful follow-up actions.

Purpose and Structure

The Calibration Visits are designed to:

• Gain deeper insight into the future work requirements and priorities of our partners.

• Identify potential applications for collaborative robotics (cobots) within partner operations.

• Explore opportunities for onsite cobot training to build workforce capability.

• Collect valuable feedback on past and current projects.

• Understand how research outcomes are being used and how we can help maximise their value.

• Record actual and potential impacts of our projects across partner organisations.

Each visit follows a structured agenda, including a review of projects undertaken, discussions around automation strategy and challenges, facility tours, and a debrief to identify potential cobot applications, “quick wins,” and next steps. Importantly, barriers to cobot adoption are also being documented to help guide the Centre’s future research direction.

Sites and Participation

Calibration Visits are currently being held with partners who have manufacturing capabilities. The first round of visits has included:

• B&R Enclosures

• Cook Medical

• Stryker

• InfraBuild (Melbourne)

Looking Ahead

Virtual calibration meetings with other industry partners are scheduled for May and June, ensuring we capture a comprehensive view of partner needs across the full spectrum of our network.

These visits come at a crucial time. As highlighted in our recent newsletter, the Centre is entering its final years of operation under the current ARC funding. Demonstrating our impact—and maximising the value of our work—is more important than ever. The recent demonstration of the InfraBuild Shorts Project at the Sydney Mill is a great example of how years of research, collaboration, and co-design with industry can result in tangible, on-site innovation.

We look forward to sharing more outcomes from the Calibration Visits in the coming months and using these insights to shape the final phase of the Centre.