Businesses across south Wales will be able to try out robots and automation at a new hub in Swansea’s SA1 before deciding whether to spend money on them.
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is leading the South Wales Robotics Adoption Hub, one of eight announced by the UK Government on Friday as part of a £40m programme.
It will be based at the university’s SA1 Innovation Quarter, giving firms a place to see the technology working, get specialist advice and test ideas before committing to buy.
Richard Morgan, assistant dean of UWTSD’s Faculty of Science and Art, who is leading the hub, said the point was not to invent anything new. “Rather than developing new robotics technologies, the Hub will help businesses identify where automation can add value, get hands-on with proven technologies, test and validate potential solutions, and access the right expertise before making decisions,” he said.
What the SA1 robotics hub offers south Wales businesses
The university says the hub is aimed at manufacturing, energy, utilities and infrastructure, but is open to any industry where robots could make a measurable difference.
Support on offer includes independent checks on where automation could help, demonstrations, test-before-invest trials, specialist technical help, and introductions to technology suppliers, integrators and finance.
Morgan said many firms could see the benefits of robots but did not know where to begin. “By offering impartial advice and opportunities to test solutions before committing to investment, the Hub will help businesses improve productivity, quality, safety, resilience and long-term competitiveness,” he said.
Boston Dynamics, ABB and Vodafone among the robotics hub’s backers
The partners named by UWTSD are Avallan, Didactic Services, Majotech Partnership, Poet Systems, Promaterial, Sutro Group and Vodafone, with support from Omron, Boston Dynamics, ABB and TWI Wales.
Morgan said the breadth of that partnership was what made the hub “distinctive”.
The university says students, apprentices and staff from firms taking part will also train on industrial robots, through degree apprenticeships, university courses and industry training.
Vice-chancellor Professor Elwen Evans KC said it showed “the vital role universities can play in bringing together academia, industry and technology partners to address real-world challenges”.
£2m for the Swansea robotics hub, part of £40m across eight in the UK
Swansea West MP and pensions minister Torsten Bell says the hub is backed by £2m of UK Government funding. UWTSD describes it as a multi-million-pound initiative.
Bell congratulated the university on winning a competitive bid. “Raising productivity is the key to higher wages and a stronger economy, and helping local businesses adopt the technologies shaping the next generation of manufacturing is how we get there,” he said.
Government estimates say robots and automation could add £150bn to the UK economy by 2035 if firms took them up fully, against £6.4bn at current rates.
The other hubs include one for surgical robots, a farming hub in Lincoln and a second Welsh hub, Hwb Llwybr Roboteg Cymru, aimed at Welsh manufacturers.
It comes a month after the Chancellor, John Healey, named Swansea alongside Oxford and Cambridge as one of Britain’s innovation clusters.
Businesses interested in the hub can email roboticshub@uwtsd.ac.uk.
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