Manufacturing Industry Innovation CRC
We were leading RESEARCH PROGRAM 2: AGILE MANUFACTURING
This program will investigate a suite of agile manufacturing technologies aimed at improving the performance of workers and the quality of systems that focus on short-run and personalised production. Coupled with the business model innovation research conducted in Programs 1 and 4, along with the results from an observatory study to capture lessons from the integration of new technologies, this program will provide an integrated, systems-‐based approach to drive growth from the uptake of the technological advancements made.
High-performance worker: This project will conduct research into the latest in ICT‐enabled technologies aimed at improving the productivity and safety of tomorrow’s manufacturing workers by augmenting them with a suite of lightweight assistive and virtual guidance/support systems. The research will allow lightweight robotics to navigate in unstructured environments, and cooperate seamlessly and safely with the human workforce. New manipulators will be developed that are reconfigurable in realtime to take on new work processes, thus improving productivity by reducing setup time between tasks. Research to develop user-centric virtual assistance/guidance will provide a mechanism for firms to access remote experts in realtime via the NBN to assist in solving problems, guide the repair of breakages to reduce plant downtime or simply as a mechanism of improving quality.
Agile production systems: This project will conduct the largely neglected research required to enable additive and other flexible, scalable manufacturing technologies (like flow chemistry) to be production-ready. The project will reduce the risks associated with investing in new agile manufacturing equipment by developing design principles, and materials – process – performance relationships. This will provide designers with the tools and knowledge they require to realise the full potential of their equipment. At the same ‘me, research into the development of realtime ‘on‐line’ analytics will complement the agile production systems by providing methods to simultaneously produce a digital fingerprint of the part during production, ensuring compliance to design for quality control and thereby fast-tracking the steps needed for certification.
Relates pages