2018 in Review
Our year in review – 2018 has been good to us!
As the year draws to a close, the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group looks back at its accomplishments, which range from outstanding research to considerable advancements in industry partnerships.
Research
On the financial side, we received around $5 million in external research funding to further develop our established as well as future-focused research areas.
In terms of scientific production, we published 16 articles in highly respected journals and conferences.
Six conferences and various business meetings had our team busy travelling to 10 different countries, across five continents.
Industry Engagement
With 20 projects currently underway, we have partners in the Manufacturing, Mining, Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Emergency Services and Construction industries.
These partners are critical in assisting us to continue expanding our solutions and collaboration networks.
This year, Emesent and RapidAIM spun off from our group to further enhance the Australian start-up network.
That, coupled with CSIRO’s platinum sponsorship of ICRA2018 (world’s biggest robotics conference) and facilitation for the creation of the Sixth Wave Alliance to enhance robotics collaboration in Australia, saw at least 82 media stories covering our work.
Impact
As for peer recognition, this year’s iAwards for Industrial & Primary Industries awards were taken home by our Hovermap technology, as they won the state and national titles.
To top it up, this year we also filed two patent registrations for our innovations.
People
In continuing to deliver on our commitment to enabling a future robotic’s skilled workforce, we mentored 32 new students, including Industrial Trainees, Vacation and Postgraduate students.
We also had a significant increase on our outreach activities, which saw many of our staff going to schools to excite kids about STEM, co-organising an international UAV challenge, as well as engaging in multiple industry visits and events.
Leadership
Last but not least, 2018 also saw Fred Pauling taking the Group Leader position for the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group.
“Today we are transitioning our R&D into real world applications faster than ever, as well as growing the seeds of future industries and game-changing innovations through fundamental and applied Robotics research”, says Mr Pauling.
“We are also helping to shape and grow the Australian Robotics ecosystem through the Data61-initiated Sixth Wave Alliance, as well as the broader Data61 network”.
“In 2019 we aim to continue expanding CSIRO’s role and impact in Robotics, both in Australia and internationally”, said Mr Pauling.
In Summary
With that, we thank all of our partners from within Data61, CSIRO, industry, government, academia and research organisations for their trust in our work and collaboration to our success.