“We wanted to do something meaningful and impactful – robots for good, something Australia does well as our first use case. Well, we grow a phenomenal amount of food in Australia.”
- Dr Nicole Robinson
LYRO Robotics stands out as a powerful example of Australian research transforming into realworld innovation, and audiences at World Science Festival Brisbane will have the chance to hear how the company is reshaping the journey of fresh produce from paddock to plate. LYRO develops intelligent robotic pickandpack systems that use machine vision, adaptive grasping, and AI decisionmaking to handle delicate fruit and vegetables — a task that has long challenged automation. At the intersection of robotics, agriculture and entrepreneurship, LYRO’s story provides a compelling look at how Australian research and ingenuity are helping solve one of the most complex problems in the agrifood sector.
At the centre of the conversation is LYRO’s CEO and CoFounder, Dr Nicole Robinson, whose work bridges cuttingedge AI research with the practical realities of building a company in a rapidly evolving industry. She is driven by the opportunity to apply advanced technology to a major global challenge, explaining that “there is a huge amount of food wastage that occurs if you can’t pick and pack the fruit on time. You know, millions of tonnes just going to waste per year.” LYRO’s technology is designed to step into this gap, offering a flexible, rapidly deployable system that can help producers keep pace with demand and reduce the waste that occurs when fruit and vegetables spoil before they ever reach consumers.
Joining her is Professor Peter Corke, LYRO’s Chief Roboticist, whose contributions to robotic vision have shaped how robots around the world see and move. His influence as a researcher, educator, and author — recognised by the Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award — makes him one of the most significant voices in modern robotics.
The discussion will be guided by Professor Michael Milford, Director of the QUT Centre for Robotics, whose expertise in navigation and bioinspired AI positions him to draw out the nuances of LYRO’s journey from research lab to commercial deployment. Presented as part of the Game Changers series; a Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame initiative delivered by QUT and State Library of Queensland, the event offers audiences a rare opportunity to hear directly from innovators who are shaping the future of automation.
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