Brief Introduction
The Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (IAMT) is one of the subordinate units of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASHIPS), located in Changzhou Science and Education Town, Jiangsu Province. The research of IAMT is focused on "Robotics and Intelligent Equipment".
IAMT was established in January 2007, formerly named Changzhou Institute of Mechatronics Engineering (CIME). On January 10, 2010, CASHIPS and Changzhou City government signed an agreement to establish “Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences”. CIME merged with the Intelligent Vehicle Technology Center of Hefei Institute of Intelligent Machines (IIM) CAS and Changzhou Modern Design and Manufacturing Center to form the IAMT, and registered as a local legal person "Changzhou Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology" in Changzhou. IAMT is one of the initial members of Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI). It joined JITRI as Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Equipment in January, 2014.
There are nine research laboratories in IAMT, including the Machine Vision Lab, Motion Control Lab, Electromechanical Engineering Lab, Environmental Perception Lab, Strategic Control Lab, System Integration Lab, Mechanism Design Lab, Intelligent Material Lab, and Precision Manufacturing Lab. Three administrative departments including the Administrative Office, the Scientific Project Management Office with a strategy research center and the Technology Transferring Office have also been established. Three research centers, including the Intelligent Robotics Center, the Intelligent Vehicle Center, and the Intelligent Equipment Center, have been set up to provide technical support for innovation in intelligent equipment industry. Three main research directions of IAMT are robotics (biomimetic robots, service robots, industrial robots, etc.), intelligent vehicles (vehicle sensors, automatic driving, automotive electronics, etc.) and intelligent equipment (innovative design, precision manufacturing, intelligent materials, system integration, etc.).
In the past seven years, the IAMT has brought together nearly 260 R&D personnel, more than 50% of whom have master or doctor’s degree. Among them, two were introduced by the “Hundred Talents Program” and "Thousand Talents Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences respectively. There are 15 research fellows, 19 associate research fellows and 90 doctors/masters. Four academicians of the CAS have been engaged as the chief's advisor. An Innovative R & D team has been formed, with specially engaged academicians and research fellows as academic leaders, doctors and masters as main force, highly skilled engineers as important support, and post doctorates and senior visiting scholars as supplement.
In the past seven years, 102 doctor and master candidates majored in cybernetics and machinery have been admitted into IAMT in association with University of Science and Technology of China, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Hefei University of Technology, etc. A post-doctoral research center of Jiangsu Province has been set up as well as the postgraduates’ training base of University of Science and Technology of China. A national education base for popular science has also been established here. The IAMT is becoming a training center for high-level professionals in the advanced manufacturing field in China.
In the past seven years, the IAMT has undertaken more than 100 scientific projects supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program), National Natural Science Foundation of China, biological interdisciplinary project from the General Armament Department, and the forefront project from CAS, etc. and the total research funds have reached over 170 million Yuan. 173 patents have been submitted, in which 64 have been authorized . More than two hundred high-level research papers have been published. The institute organized the foundation of the Jiangsu Strategic Alliance of Robotics and Intelligent Equipment Industry Technology Innovation. A service platform is under construction to serve Mid-Small Enterprises, which is organized by Jiangsu Economic and Information Technology Commission. Now, the IAMT is one of the major R&D institutions in Jiangsu, as well as one of the initial members of national technology transfer model units.
In the past seven years, the humanoid robot “Intelligent Pioneer” has been qualified in participating the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), which is held by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as the only team from China mainland. The unmanned vehicle “Intelligent Pioneer” is the only team that has goaled top-three in the "Future Challenge” races held by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) ever since 2010. The first domestic service robot for the elderly, the underactuated hand, the high-accuracy tramp-iron rejector, the hybrid robot for high speed and high-accuracy works, etc., have gained intellectual property rights, and reached the international advanced level. Numeriousprojects are being developed in IAMT, including the next-generation redundant two-armed robot, the exoskeleton robot, universal articulated six –axis robot，low-cost five-axis welding robot, the high speed high-accuracy SMT machine, the mechatronics joint, etc.
In the past seven years, the researchers of IAMT have taken deep insight into the frontline to understand the technical requirements in enterprises. They have traveled almost six hundred thousand kilometers and met more than three thousand visitors from enterprises. The IAMT has provided technical consultancies for more than 600 enterprises in many aspects, such as new product developing, automated production line transformation, precision finishing and testing. And more than one thousand practical problems in enterprises have been solved by researchers in IAMT. More than 23 research centers have been developed through the coordination between the IAMT and enterprises, and seven high-tech enterprises have been developed, bringing in profit as high as five billion Yuan, which is widely acknowledged by enterprises. In additional, the Changzhou Zhongke Green Technology Industrial Park has been developed to commercialize the research outcomes. As a result, the IAMT has won anaward in China for Cooperative Innovation and Promotion and the CAS Cooperative Awards for multiple times. Many of the party and nation's leaders visited the institute, and gave high praises.
After the first phase of the construction, the IAMT has become a research institute with well-equipped facilities, beautiful environment and modern scientific research atmosphere. The IAMT will stick to the spirit of CAS and make great innovative scientific contributions to the national economy, security and sustainable development, in order to face the state-level strategic requirement and world-wide scientific frontier.
