Capability
Can it do it?
Can the robot perform the task it claims to perform?
Cars have test tracks.AI models have benchmarks.Now robots have their own proving ground.
The Robot Range is being built to test robots in the kinds of situations they will face in the real world – before they enter our homes, workplaces and public spaces.
The robots are coming.
Let's make sure they're ready.
Robots are moving out of labs and caged-off production lines and into more places where people live and work.
The hardware is improving. AI is making machines increasingly capable and adaptive. Billions are being invested in putting robots into warehouses, hospitals, workplaces, public spaces - and eventually our homes.
The direction is clear.
The unanswered question is: how will we know which ones are ready?
Demos won't be enough.
A robot can walk. Lift. Sort. Carry. Navigate a room. But a polished demonstration tells us surprisingly little about what happens when the real world gets involved.
When conditions change.When instructions conflict.When someone gets in the way.When another machine behaves unexpectedly.When the easy case disappears.
Real-world robots will need real-world evidence.
We're building the place that proves it.
The standard.
And the place that proves it.
The Robot Benchmark is an independent institution developing common ways to measure robot capability, competence and conduct.
- What gets tested and how it gets tested.
- How performance is scored.
- How results can be compared.
- How those results are independently verified.
The Robot Range is the physical proving ground where those ideas meet the real world.
A dedicated Melbourne facility where robots can be put through repeatable, instrumented and increasingly difficult scenarios - from homes and workplaces to warehouses, hospitals and public environments.
The Robot Benchmark will define what good looks like.
The Robot Range will put it to the test.
Three questions.
One proving ground.
Competence
Can it do it well?
Can it do it reliably and repeatedly - under variation, interruption and uncertainty?
Conduct
Can we trust how it behaves?
What happens when people, other machines and the unexpected enters the environment?
Because the robots we invite into human spaces will ultimately need to demonstrate all three.
Evidence people can use.
The ambition isn't testing for testing's sake. It's to create evidence that matters outside the lab.
Manufacturers will be able to demonstrate how their robots actually perform.
Buyers and workplaces will be able to compare machines against the jobs and environments they have in mind.
Insurers and risk specialists will have evidence to help understand what they're underwriting.
Governments and procurers will have something more useful than manufacturer claims.
Researchers and investigators will have repeatable ways to understand behaviour – including when things go wrong.
And ultimately, people will have better reasons to trust the machines beginning to work around them.
Made in Australia.
Built for the world.
The Robot Range is being built in Melbourne - bringing robots, companies and expertise here to test, demonstrate and improve machines being built around the world.
Around it, we see the opportunity for something bigger: researchers, engineers, manufacturers, insurers, safety specialists and governments working together to shape how robots are tested and understood.
That means testing happens here. Research happens here. New expertise, businesses and intellectual property grow here.
We don't need to manufacture every robot in Australia.
We can become the place the world brings them to prove they're ready.
This is the plan.
An independent benchmark for real-world robots.
A proving ground where it can be developed, tested and refined.
And a community of robotics companies, researchers, industry, government and experts helping shape both. Built and proven in Melbourne.
The Robot Benchmark will set the standard.
The Robot Range will prove it.
We're at the beginning - assembling the expertise and support to make it happen.
If you think you belong at The Range, we'd like to hear from you.