Ramping up robotics research with new corporate lab

Image: (L-R) Dr Chiueh Tzi-Cker, General Director, Delta Research Centre, Mr Yancey Hai, Chairman, Delta Electronics Inc, Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Prof Ho Teck Hua, NTU President, and Prof Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry), NTU, activating the launching mechanism at the opening ceremony for the Delta-NTU Corporate Lab for Advanced Robotics. 

NTU and Delta Electronics, global provider of IoT-based Smart Green Solutions, have established the S$24 million Delta-NTU Corporate Lab for Advanced Robotics, continuing their close collaboration in research & development for advanced technologies.

The lab, supported under Singapore’s National Research Foundation’s Research Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan, will develop over three years next-generation technologies aimed at overcoming labour shortage challenges for the manufacturing and intralogistics - the logistical flows of goods and materials that take place on a company's site – industries.

Collaborative robotic systems are set to become a staple as businesses transit into Industry 5.0, and as the world grapple with a manpower crunch arising from an ageing workforce and declining birth-rates. Such systems include human-touch inspired robots that can adjust their grip to pick up a range of materials, from fragile glassware to volatile chemicals, and smart sensing, radar, and 3D sensors systems, which allow autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to operate in a dynamic environment with human traffic like hospitals and warehouses.

The joint lab was launched today in a ceremony attended by Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Mr Alvin Tan; NTU President Professor Ho Teck Hua and Delta Electronics Chairman, Mr Yancey Hai.