Aussie boffins are blurring the line between biology and technology and creating a new generation of robot "helpers" more in tune with human needs. The Australian Research Council's Thinking Systems symposium this week heard how Scientists are working towards a range of robotic innovations, from the development of navigation and learning robots to the construction of artificial joints and limbs and the creation of a conversational computer program.

UQ's School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering head, Professor Janet Wiles, said the symposium paired "some very clever engineers...with very clever scientists" to map the future of robotics - and it was going to be a very different world. Bringing together neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, behaviour and robotics information system to look at the cross disciplinary projects we can do in this space.

The group aims to advance robotic technology by decoding the way human and animal brains work and mimicking this on a computer. The next 20 years robots will become more important, expanding from their current roles as cleaners, assemblers and drones and into smarter machines more closely integrated with human beings in the form of replacement limbs and joints.