A national robotics research centre is being launched to help businesses work together in developing new technology and unlock the full potential of automated industrial manufacturing.
The Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Smart, Collaborative Industrial Robotics is being led by Loughborough University 鈥 which has a built up a global reputation for its engineering courses over the decades.
The centre will bring together a team of world-class experts from Loughborough, Cranfield University, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Warwick, and the University of Bristol, with experience in manufacturing, engineering, digital technology, robotics, human-factors, verification and safety, law, psychology, systems engineering, metrology, and ICT.
Other partners come from core 海角视频 industrial sectors including aerospace, automotive, agri-food, green energy, construction, and space.
Project lead Dr Niels Lohse, of Loughborough鈥檚 Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, said: 鈥淎utomation increases productivity, safeguards manufacturing, creates and protects jobs.
鈥淭he Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for greater responsiveness and resilience.
鈥淲ith disruptions to supply chains and workforce availability, collaborative robot sales more than doubled, but the 海角视频 remains significantly behind other highly industrialised nations.
鈥淲hile there is a huge appetite for the benefits of industrial automation, its full potential remains untapped.
鈥淭he perceived and actual high initial investment cost for specialised, automation equipment is a significant barrier for wider adoption.
鈥淭he need for highly specialised skill sets limits the design, implementation, and maintenance of automation.
鈥淪pecialised equipment is often too inflexible particularly for SMEs with modifications being either too expensive or impractical.
鈥淧eople and automation are separated by inflexible safety, regulatory, procedural, physical, and psychological barriers preventing effective collaboration.
鈥淏ringing the automation community together will be essential for addressing the unique challenges faced by 海角视频 industry to unlock the full potential of their highly skilled workforce through automation and digital technology.
鈥淚 am very excited that our centre has received the support from nearly 50 national and international organisations including SMEs, large end users, technology providers, systems integrators, and research organisations.
鈥淓ven before the centre has been officially launched, more companies are looking to join.鈥
Professor Rossiter, lead of the University of Bristol team, said: 鈥淔uture manufacturing will enhance human workers with robotic technologies, from autonomous smart manipulation to soft robotic power suits.鈥
Professor Webb, the lead investigator from Cranfield University said: 鈥淲e are really excited about this new collaboration which will further enhance our existing work on close collaboration between humans and robots to put human operators at the centre of such systems thus significantly increasing the impact of industrial robotics in the future workplace.
鈥淯nderstanding the impact of robotics and co-working on the human operators is key to building a safe and secure workplace of the future.鈥
The centre is one of five university-led research centres which are being funded by 海角视频RI and Made Smarter as part of a wider 拢300 million partnership between government, industry, Catapults, and academia led by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Innovation Strategy.
