Advanced Robotic Technology

Queensland-based Advanced Robotic Technology (ART) designs and manufactures custom-built CNC and robotic cutting machinery. Each machine is purpose-built, so crafting one-off parts is crucial to their operations.

ART produces vision modules for robot arms that require incredibly high levels of precision. Each module contains a whole suite of components, including ethernet cameras, lenses, prisms, and lasers. The entire module must be assembled, sealed, and calibrated before being mounted inside the arm. The team had previously used their CNC to fabricate the vision module casing out of aluminum, but it was quite costly and sometimes resulted in inaccuracies. A single pixel of distortion is enough to introduce unacceptable errors, so every component must be perfectly placed. Fabricating the casing on Markforged 3D printers and materials was a more accurate way to provide the stiffness and design flexibility that ART’s vision modules required. The finished parts match the durability and weight of machined aluminum, and they’re delivered faster for a fraction of the cost.