The Australian Research Council Research Hub for Human Robot Teaming for Sustainable and Resilient Construction (HaRTCon) was officially launched by Assistant Minister the Hon. Julian Hill MP on 23 April 2026.
The Hub’s vision is to advance AI enabled human-centric intelligent robotics to improve safety, productivity, and resilience of Australia’s construction sector, while providing a platform to highlight early research directions, and demonstrate human–robot teaming capability.
With construction contributing nine per cent of Australia’s GDP, facing a shortfall of over 200,000 skilled workers, and accounting for significant energy use, emissions and waste, the Hub’s mission is timely and reinforces the value of industry–university collaboration in addressing national priorities.
UTS is the lead organisation for the Hub and brings together seven Australian universities and fourteen industry and government partners.
Intelligent robots for bridge maintenance
Maintaining the Sydney Harbour Bridge, in particular, the internal surface of the narrow arch tunnels with a total length of 7.2km, is an ongoing challenge as it may expose bridge workers to many hazards such as lead based paint, confined spaces, dust and working at heights.
With increasingly stringent health and safety regulations, there is a crucial need for innovative intelligent robots to address these significant health and safety issues. Researchers at UTS have been collaborating with the Roads and Maritime Service of NSW since 2006 to conduct robotics research, develop enabling methodologies, and develop various autonomous robots for steel bridge maintenance.
Part of the outcomes of this collaboration are the world’s first of their kind intelligent robots, including:
- Autonomous grit-blasting robots for surface cleaning,
- Bio-inspired climbing robot (CROC) for inspecting internal surfaces of the narrow arch tunnels, and
- Autonomous robots (WAuMBot) for cleaning and painting the internal surfaces.
These robots have the ability to autonomously conduct exploration, 3D map building, collision avoidance, path/motion planning and maintenance operations. The WAuMBot can also navigate through rivet filled tunnels with manholes and partition plates by using its four expandable legs and toes.
“The job is very risky – the bridge vibrates because of the traffic and it has a complex geography – which is why we approached UTS to see if a machine could do this kind of work.“
– Waruna Kaluarachchi, Planning and Delivery Manager, NSW Roads and Maritime Services
Underwater robots keeping infrastructure up
UTS researchers have developed autonomous underwater robots that augment, rather than replace, critical infrastructure maintenance work by taking on tasks that expose people to the highest levels of risk.
Routine inspection and cleaning of underwater structures such as bridge piles and wharves has traditionally required human divers to work in hazardous conditions, including poor visibility, strong currents, fatigue and the use of high‑pressure water jets in confined spaces.
The Submersible Pile Inspection Robot (SPIR) shifts these dangers away from workers by performing cleaning and inspection tasks underwater while maintenance crews supervise operations remotely from a vessel above the surface. Using sensors, cameras and autonomous navigation, the robot removes marine growth and captures high‑definition, geo‑referenced imagery that engineers can use to assess structural condition.
This approach improves work health and safety outcomes while enhancing the productivity and endurance of maintenance teams, allowing human expertise to be applied where it adds the most value
