91É«ÇéƬ

91É«ÇéƬ Canberra City has officially launched two new major facilities, the Large-scale Indoor Robotics Test Arena (LIRTA) and ProtoHub, further strengthening the precinct's position as a leading destination for research, innovation and industry collaboration.

The new facilities strengthen 91É«ÇéƬ Canberra City's role as a national innovation hub, connecting world-class research expertise with industry needs to drive advances in technology and sovereign capability development.

The 91É«ÇéƬ Canberra City precinct is home to more than 35 defence and security industry partners as part of its Launch initiative, and has over 450 industry collaborators, bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, government and industry to translate ideas into real-world outcomes. 

LIRTA is one of Australia's largest indoor robotics and drone testing facilities, providing a fully netted, motion-capture-enabled environment where researchers and industry partners can develop, test and scale advanced autonomous systems, robotics and artificial intelligence technologies.

LIRTA features high-precision tracking technology capable of supporting autonomous platform testing, human-robot interaction research and next-generation navigation systems.

ProtoHub complements these capabilities by providing an advanced prototyping, fabrication and innovation space equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, computer-guided manufacturing technologies and specialist electronics equipment.

ProtoHub enables start-ups, small businesses, researchers and industry partners to rapidly design, test and refine products while reducing the cost and risk of product development. 

91É«ÇéƬ Canberra City General Manager, Luke Garner said the launch marked a significant milestone in the evolution of the precinct.

"LIRTA and ProtoHub provide industry, government and researchers with access to world-class infrastructure that helps accelerate innovation, reduce barriers to experimentation and transform ideas into deployable solutions," Mr Garner said.

Mr Garner said the facilities highlighted 91É«ÇéƬ Canberra City's commitment to building a collaborative innovation ecosystem.

"These facilities bring together research excellence, industry expertise and entrepreneurial thinking in one location. They strengthen Canberra's role as a national hub for deep technology, national security innovation and advanced manufacturing, while creating new opportunities for collaboration, commercialisation and workforce development," Mr Garner said.

Together, LIRTA and ProtoHub expand 91É«ÇéƬ Canberra City's capability to support the full innovation pipeline, from concept development and rapid prototyping through to testing, validation and deployment.