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Our Mechatronics laboratories consists of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Research Laboratory and the Mechatronics Teaching Laboratory. Learn about their facilities and services for UNSW Engineering students. 

Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory 

The Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory is a well-equipped laboratory with all facilities required to carry out robotics, automation, autonomous systems, and control systems research. There are five robot manipulators equipped with vision systems, conveyor system and facilities to develop custom built controllers for such systems. The laboratory also has many PLCs and motion controllers that could be used for automation related projects.  

The Autonomous Systems Research is well supported by mobile robotic platforms. Furthermore, the laboratory also has two large-scale field vehicles with complete autonomous operational capability. The two field vehicles are stationed in a leased facility with a large open field data communication network and GPS base stations where field trials using these autonomous vehicles can be carried out.  

For aerial vehicles research, the laboratory has four large drones with payload capacity of about 5 kg, which are used for aerial collision avoidance, ground-based target identification and drone-based ground vehicles control research. In addition, the laboratory also has a helicopter that can carry a payload of 10 kg. Facilities for flying these drones are available in the same leased facility. Control systems research, most of the time forms a part of the robotics and autonomous systems research and there therefore integrated with the above-mentioned facilities.  

Mechatronics Teaching Laboratory 

This laboratory is the primary teaching laboratory of the Mechatronics group. It has over 40 workstations equipped with a full set of interface cards capable of digital and analogue inputs and outputs, counters and timers, encoder reading and networking. 

The laboratory provides support for teaching activities in Computing for Mechatronic Engineers, Modelling and Control of Mechatronic Systems, Computing Applications in Mechatronic Systems, Robot Design and Advanced Autonomous Systems. 

Teaching equipment include four UR5 robots, one ABB robot, PLCs, other advanced sensors such as inertial measurement systems (IMUs), GPS and LiDAR systems the students get to program and interact with. Furthermore, the laboratory also has two mobile robotic platforms the students get to develop software for perception and vehicle control work.  

To support robotics reaching activities, there is also a maze the students use to navigate their robots. To support the control system teaching the laboratory has an inverted pendulum experiment, monorail crane system, speed control experiments with load disturbances and position control experiments. The teaching laboratory is a vibrant and dynamic place where Mechatronics students enjoy learning.