I had the privilege of being the International Guest Speaker at the School of Computing Technologies on Tuesday, 13 June 2023. It was an honour to present a seminar as a fellow OpenInnoTrain Secondee.

I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Fabio Zambetta, the Associate Dean of Artificial Intelligence in the School of Computing Technologies, for the warm welcome and introduction. I also would like to thank the entire RMIT team that welcomed me. The event provided a fantastic platform to discuss cutting-edge research and innovative ideas in the field of engineering and science.

International Guest Speaker: Professor Filippo Sanfilippo, Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Agder, Norway | OpenInnoTrain Secondee

Welcome and introduction: Professor Fabio Zambetta, Associate Dean, Artificial Intelligence in the School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, Melbourne

Reflection: 

In this seminar, Professor Filippo Sanfilippo shared some of his work in Industry 4.0 and 5.0, specifically concerning human-robot collaboration and teaming. Filippo says the fifth revolution of industrial automation is occurring with the convergence of artificial intelligence and the presence of sensors everywhere - on and around the machine and on humans through wearables, providing the possibility for machines and humans to share workspaces and to work hand in hand.

Obstacles to this revolution include that robotics producers currently utilise proprietary software with limitations in usability however, Filippo says that opensource middleware used as a bridge between a proprietary server and a user program provides a way forward.  The concept of 'digital twins' where real labs and digital labs are connected is an another trend that will enable the evolution of Industry 5.0.

During the seminar Filippo spoke about the challenges for human-robot collaborations including the trade-off between control and mechanical/software design. He also shared case studies of human-robot interaction and collaboration with regards to applications for intelligent health, along with the work his team has progressed around potential applications for search-and-research collaborations.​​​​​​​

Following the seminar, Professor Zambetta shared his thoughts on the seminar and Professor Sanfilippo’s OpenInnoTrain secondment to RMIT Melbourne:

We are very happy to be hosting Professor Sanfilippo at RMIT and we would like to thank OpenInnoTrain for providing us with a new collaboration opportunity. 

Fililppo's expertise in robotics, mechatronics and control is complementary to the Ai Discipline expertise in machine learning (reinforcement learning), automated planning, evolutionary computing and AR/VR simulation.

More opportunities for collaboration in the School also include potential opportunities with staff whose expertise lies in data science as well as IoT and smart sensing. 

Seminar participant, Jenny Hedley, also shared:

Seeing how agile and responsive the robot snake is compared with robot hands/grabbers is an eye opener! As an avid hiker I imagine how useful this would be in wilderness rescue situations when someone triggers an emergency transponder.

A recording of the seminar is available to view here.

Acknowledgments:

OpenInnoTrain Project, is a global network of researchers and industry practitioners across Europe and Australia for promoting the translation of research between university-industry through cooperation and Open Innovation in the sectors of: FinTech, Industry 4.0, CleanTech, FoodTech. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 823971.

RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia - Global Business Innovation Enabling Impact Platform (Director, Professor Anne-Laure Mention).

University of Agder ​​​​​​​