Launched in 2019, the Robotics Innovation Centre (RIC) has helped catapult Australian robotics to world-leading heights. The Centre was a testing ground for the award-winning CSIRO-led team that claimed second in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge and our state-of-the-art mapping and localisation software Wildcat.
The 600-square-metre Brisbane-based facility is custom-built for the testing of legged robots and 3D mapping, through to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).
The Robotics Innovation Centre houses:
- The biggest motion capture system in Australia
- A 13x5m pool for testing aquatic robots
- A significant number of field-deployable UAVs, UGVs and legged robots
- High-accuracy robot manipulators
- Sensors and telemetry systems
The Centre is an expansion of CSIRO's Data61 robotics infrastructure which already includes two standardised proving grounds, an above ground tunnel course, dedicated mechanical and electronics engineering laboratories, several high-end rapid prototyping machines, large sheds for indoors systems testing, an open-air UAV flying area, and outdoor testing areas including a forest and creek.
CSIRO’s Data61 robotics infrastructure, hosted by the Robotics and Autonomous Systems group, is open for industry use and collaborative projects.