Research Themes
Research and innovation in i-AMS takes place in three interacting themes with complementary expertise pooled in each theme. Elements in a theme combine to provide intrinsic lines of development, or join with research in other themes to pursue broader based solutions. Collaboration across internal and external boundaries enabled by our culture and infrastructure.
Virtual sensing, prognostics and simulation
Innovative research in the development of technology to provide polymorphic data from which holistic maps of manufacturing landscapes are created. Data provided by virtual sensing, and physical sensors. Advanced data analysis of data sets reveals interdependences, correlations and insights. Models of manufacturing systems to elucidate current operations, predict performance and experiment with possible futures.
Flexible automation and cobotics
Research is focused on advancing technology for safe unstructured manufacturing environments where people work in the same space as flexible automation systems and autonomous robotics. We take forward three lines of development: multi-robot systems that can adapt, reconfigure and recalibrate autonomously; technology to improve safety, trust and co-operation between humans and robots; and improve distributed control and path planning algorithms for multi-robot and human-robot collaboration.
Autonomous and intelligent decision making
We pursue lines of research to underpin the development of intelligent supervisory control and autonomous decision support systems. Systems that respond in real-time to dynamically changing operating requirements, with situational awareness through the reconciliation of data from the real-world and predictive analytics.
