Yesterday, Australian Research Council (ARC) Deputy Chief Executive Officer Dr Richard Johnson attended the launch of the ARC Research Hub in Intelligent Robotic Systems for Real-Time Asset Management (ARIAM).
Led by the University of Sydney, the ARIAM Hub aims to transform robotic capabilities for asset management, which will enable reliable and robust autonomous inspection and maintenance of large complex structures in challenging environments.
Dr Johnson said the ARIAM Hub has generated strong national and international collaboration, together with significant intergenerational knowledge and skills transmission among research to build Australia's capability.
"The ARC has a proud history of supporting outstanding research that benefits the Australian community, and the ARIAM Research Hub is an outstanding example of this," Dr Johnson said.
"This new Research Hub brings together a team of world-class academic researchers and industry leaders to develop never-seen-before capabilities for robotic systems, positioning Australia at the forefront of a rapidly growing market.
"Some of the exciting research outcomes include the development of autonomous robots that inspect infrastructure for signs of damage, new AI algorithms that process large amounts of data from buildings to provide insights into how they are evolving and support future decision-making, and new robotics technologies for sensing and navigation," Dr Johnson said.
During its 5-year life span, the ARIAM Hub is expected to mobilise a team of more than 50 researchers and partner investigators to overcome the key technology barriers to the distribution of autonomous systems for asset management in real-time.
The ARIAM Hub is expected to attract 18 students, 14 researchers, and 7 research fellows.
The ARC is investing $5 million over 5 years in the ARIAM Hub under the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hubs scheme.
