Networked Robotics and Automation Lab

Teleoperation is a key aspect of human-robot interaction and enables operators to remotely control robotics systems, bridging the gap between human-decision making and robotic execution. Examples include robotics in mining, manufacturing, disaster response, extra-terrestrial exploration, and rural health services.

We aim to enhance the efficiency, reliability and safety of teleoperated robotic systems through advanced networking technologies and automation strategies. One research area is on autonomous assistance. The integration of autonomous functionality and intelligent algorithms will allow augmented operator control and alleviate cognitive workload.

This has links with the research in the Australian Cobotics Centre and with the Swinburne Lunar Rover Team. Additionally, a focus of safety and reliability will mitigate against risks with teleoperation particular in high-risk and health settings.

Multi-robot coordinated control has emerged as a pivotal area of research with the proliferation of robotics applications across civilian, industrial and military domains. As the demand for coordinated multi-robot systems continues to rise, it has become increasingly evident that efficient collaboration among robots is essential for achieving complex tasks and addressing real-world challenges.

Key technical trends in multi-robot cooperative control include intelligent distributed control strategies, efficient communication mechanisms, and swarm intelligence algorithms. By leveraging these advanced techniques, multi-robot cooperative control endeavours to enhance robotic system capabilities, enabling them to collaborate synergistically, adapt to dynamic environments, and efficiently accomplish collective goals.

The fundamental architecture of most industrial automation systems today stems from the International Society of Automation (ISA)-95 model.

With the rapid penetration of Artificial Intelligence of Things and next-generation communication technologies, there is concerted industrial effort towards building a more network-centric architecture, where elements in any of the five ISA-95 levels can be directly connected with elements in another other levels according to the system requirements.

We have very recently proposed a new industrial automation architecture, coined as “Cloud-Fog Automation”, to provide increased flexibility, redundancy and mobility, involving teleoperated robots, autonomous industrial vehicles, and various distributed process control systems in the Factory of the Future.

Consequently, industrial applications can be realised independent of vendor-specific hardware and software, and further provided as a service with varying degrees of technical and infrastructure requirements, translating into significant business benefits.