Rockwell provides training tech for Queensland advanced manufacturing lab

A $3 million advanced manufacturing lab is being built by Applied Robotics for TAFE Queensland, funded through the Queensland Government’s $100 million ‘Equipping TAFE for our Future’ program.

The new lab, scheduled for installation in February 2025, will feature several key Rockwell Automation technologies, designed to train the next generation of Australian engineers, manufacturers and innovators.

The new lab, to be installed at TAFE Queensland’s Ipswich campus, will focus on training students in areas such as robotics, CNC machining, machine vision and learning, and automated logistics and storage.

“A key outcome set out by the TAFE was that we needed to be able to train the trainers, so they are well-equipped to teach students in the new lab. Rockwell was instrumental in achieving this, particularly with its Plex software running the entire system with control down to the device level,” said Isaac Roach, chief operating officer, Applied Robotics.

“It’s vital to nurture the next generation of manufacturing talent, and advanced labs like this will help train Australia’s innovators and entrepreneurs of the future,” said Anthony Wong, regional director, South Pacific, Rockwell Automation.

“We’ve had a long partnership with Rockwell, extending more than 30 years, so when we won the project to deliver this smart manufacturing lab, we knew Rockwell had the expertise and technologies to meet our needs,” Roach said. “Not many suppliers have all the technologies under one roof, but with Rockwell, we could get IoT, MES, logistics technologies, PLCs, digital twin visualisation and AMRs all from the one supplier.

“Applied Robotics is an OEM solutions provider that caters to the more complex end of automation, and Rockwell is one of our preferred suppliers due to its quality product, technical expertise and customer service.”

A 3D render of the new advanced manufacturing lab being built by Applied Robotics for TAFE Queensland.

In addition to providing industrial automation technologies, Rockwell also tailored its technologies to the educational environment.

“Rockwell is assisting in the design of a twinned PLC System for the room, which means that students could program and test their skills using one PLC, but it could always be flipped back to the original settings if something didn’t work. This is a really clever system for an educational set-up, and Rockwell took that challenge on and delivered an ideal result,” Roach said.

Another feature of the smart lab will be Rockwell’s Emulate3D, a digital twin software that enables a total digital visualisation of plant.

“In workforce applications, Emulate3D allows users to create, fine-tune and test designs before they are built, saving the large costs often associated with redesigning a factory after the fact. In an educational context, students can trial their designs in an environment that accurately mirrors real life,” Roach said.

OTTO Motors AMRs

The lab will also feature Rockwell’s OTTO Motors AMRs. This is one of the first local installations of OTTO, which came as part of Rockwell’s acquisition of Clearpath Robotics in 2023.

“AMRs are at the forefront of industrial automation, so it was important to include them in the smart manufacturing lab. OTTO Motors AMRs are respected globally for enhancing productivity for manufacturing facilities, so we were excited to include them in our designs,” Roach said.

Future possibilities

With the TAFE Queensland advanced manufacturing lab underway, Applied Robotics is already looking at new opportunities.

“People are impressed with what this industry and education partnership is set to achieve, and we’ve already had other educational institutions in Australia interested in a similar setup. We are excited about these possibilities, and will look to continue to expand our strong partnership with Rockwell to continue delivering for the Australian education sector,” Roach concluded.

Top image credit: iStock.com/cofotoisme