A new research center for about 450 million crowns is being built in one of the Pod Palackého vrchem industrial halls in Brno. CEITEC BUT thus continues to expand. The aim of the center, which is created mainly thanks to subsidy programs, is the development of technologies using artificial intelligence and robotics for fully automated production. This should help companies in the field to put them into practice faster.
Brno robot Karel, technologies working with infectious material or explorers of the Býčí skála cave are examples of the successes of South Moravian robotics. CEITEC researchers hope that more ideas will be born in the new research center. When completed, it will look like a small factory with dozens of devices along the entire length of the hall. For example, there will be twelve robots of various types as well as virtual reality equipment. “We are building a workplace where we will be able to do, for example, 3D printing from plastic for industrial use or 3D printing from metal,” described the coordinator of the research program CEITEC BUT Pavel Václavek.
Routine to machines, creativity to people
Workers are currently installing machines, which they will then drive for several more months. “We will test and develop premises for industry, but also for electric cars. At this workplace, we will test drives with linear motors, which can be found, for example, in magnetic trains, “said Václavek. “We would like external companies to be able to realistically verify innovative technologies, which they could then apply in practice,” added CEITEC BUT Secretary Jan Nedvěd. The institute has already tried something similar in its smaller laboratory, which it will keep mainly for presentations for schools, for example. Pavel Václavek could not imagine such possibilities a quarter of a century ago, when he started at BUT. “Of course we also did experiments, but on much smaller drives, on the table,” he said. The new RICAIP center is said to allow people to leave the routine to the machines and creativity. It could be in operation at the beginning of next year.