Work with us
Highly autonomous robots assisting humans.
#Project Types | #Access our infrastructure | #Solutions by industry
We partner with small and large companies, government and industry in Australia and around the world to develop and mature robotic technologies from concept to commercialisation.
Our systems provide scientific, social and economic benefits through cutting-edge science, deeper understanding of natural and built environments, increased productivity and human safety, and augmentation of human capabilities.
For more than 25 years, we have been pushing the boundaries of field robotics research and development, from fundamental research into evolutionary robotics and flexible systems, to bespoke and customised robots for challenging inspection and autonomous haulage tasks, to the world’s best 3D LiDaR SLAM software.
Our projects
We are ready to help you solve your biggest challenges, starting with a pre-feasibility, progressing to prototype system development, testing & validation, and tech transfer.
We love to take on challenging unsolved problems, whose solution will have a strong positive social, environmental and economic impact.
Our significant portfolio of robotics background IP, such as hardware designs and software stacks can be leveraged to accelerate system development. We are uniquely positioned to leverage the extensive technical and domain expertise in Data61 and other parts of CSIRO.
Below we provide a rough guideline for typical project types, costs and outputs. This will vary by project, depending on the specific requirements, and we will work with you to tailor a project to your needs.
Project Types
Open allClose allWe will examine your problem and make recommendations on potential solutions. This is typically the first phase for development projects.
The deliverable will consist of a report, presentation or video containing:
- Problem discovery, trade study and literature review
- Options analysis: what options exist to solve the problem
We will build a prototype that will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed solution.
This is typically the second phase for development projects.
We usually utilise the following components for prototyping:
- Background IP – Building upon known entities allows us to develop high TRL (Technology Readiness Level) systems that work.
- Develop novel algorithms (or adapt existing ones) that are suitable for solving the problem.
- ROS Software Backbone – Robotic Operating System (ROS) free software that has a suite of libraries for sensors, recording, navigation etc. By utilising ROS we are able to greatly reduce the software engineering effort required.
- 3D Printing – We have commercial 3D printers that we utilise to develop the prototype systems.
- Workshop Facilities – We have waterjet cutting, bending and machining, for manufacturing parts that we utilise for testing.
- PCB Electronics Design and Manufacturing – We have many years of experience in developing custom 8 layer Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) for prototyping.
The deliverable will consist of a demonstration of the system, final report and video.
Since the prototype will not be designed for unsupervised operation, for safety reasons, it may be decommissioned. Furthermore, the prototype may contain encumbered BIP that will prevent its commercial use.
We will build a prototype to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL). This may require further investment in order to create multiple versions of the system to ensure we have a robust and highly reliable system.
We usually follow the below steps for system development:
- We utilise fast-fail initiatives in order to understand the problem and challenges faster. This development phase normally consists of on-site development and testing. Depending on the arrangements the system can be left with the client.
- CSIRO typically will look at developing up to a TRL-6/TRL-7 and will explore other options with you to further commercialise the system.
- CSIRO can co-invest in projects when there is direct value for us to do so. This option can allow for extending the research or reducing the upfront cost.
- PIP and BIP encumbrances will be negotiated and resolved.
Talk to us to determine if we have the capability to support your needs and to discuss what level of investment is required for your specific project.
Our facilities
Our state-of-the-art robotics infrastructure is open for use through collaborative projects by industry, government and academia.
Solutions by industry
Check out the links below to view our capabilities, applications and case studies of previous work by industry type.
Careers
At CSIRO you can be part of helping to solve big, complex problems that make a real difference to our future.