HaRTCon Welcome Seminar

The event opened with Professor Dikai Liu, who gave a warm welcome and outlined the Hub’s overarching goals and ambitions, particularly the need to strengthen and enhance Australia’s construction workforce through human-robot teaming solutions. He spoke about the growing pressures across the Australian and global construction sectors and how the Hub aims to create safer, smarter, and more sustainable ways of working through human-centric robotics and artificial intelligence.

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The program then moved through presentations from each of the four research themes.

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Theme 1, presented by Fred Chang, focused on developing intelligent robotics, machine learning, and trust-based human-robot collaboration for construction applications.

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Theme 2, presented by Carol Hon, explored worker wellbeing, safety, and the social dimensions of adopting robotics on site, supported by case studies such as robotic screeding and painting.

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Theme 3, presented by Sara Wilkinson, discussed sustainability modelling, the economics of human-robot teaming adoption, and how to build a strong business case for industry uptake.

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Theme 4, presented online by Peng Wu, examined data-driven quality assurance and artificial intelligence-enabled monitoring, including examples of bricklaying and asset inspection robotics.

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Shankar followed with an overview of the Education, Training, and Outreach Program, which will help grow our early-career researchers and connect with professional bodies such as Engineers Australia through joint events, mentoring, and training initiatives.

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Each partner organisation then introduced their teams and shared their intended projects. This was a very positive session that highlighted the breadth of expertise and enthusiasm across the Hub. Presentations from GeoAI, Laing O’Rourke, Monecc, Main Roads Western Australia, Lehmansoft, Cortex, the Australian Constructors Association, SafeWork NSW, and OZ Build Construction all reflected a strong commitment to collaboration and co-development.

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Overall, the seminar established a warm and optimistic tone. It provided an excellent opportunity to meet the wider network, align our shared ambitions, and begin building the relationships that will guide the Hub’s success. There was a strong sense of energy and purpose, with everyone focused on working together, sharing expertise, and achieving meaningful impact in the future of human-robot teaming for construction.