POSTED: 18 Nov, 2021

Centre Director, Jonathan Roberts featured in the latest episode of  “Let’s talk robotics” by Nicci Rossouw from Expatec.

The robotics capability in Australia has great growth and particularly in Queensland, there is the potential to be world leading. Although this technical capability is important, to be truly successful, collaborative robotics research and its application within industry also needs to address the design and human components that are involved in technological change.

As noted by Nicci and Jon: “It’s easy to buy a robot, but what do you do with it?”

If collaborative robots are used in the right way, everyone is a winner.  The worker will develop more interesting skills, the company becomes more efficient and the technology companies keep growing.

By including the workers in the design process, the Centre will ensure that cobot or technical solution addresses the challenges the worker and company may have. They are the experts in their job and their field and therefore the solution will be designed for them. For example, a worker might advise that a repetitive task creates a physical pain point and if that were removed, the risk of injury almost completely disappears. A company may also find it difficult to find staff to complete dangerous, dirty or repetitive tasks and a cobot allows this work to continue with no impact on production or efficiency.

Listen to the podcast here:  Let’s talk robotics with Professor Jonathan Roberts — EXAPTEC