The winged robot launches into the air, buzzing and hovering in space. Its every move is tracked on a screen as it dances around what used to be a basketball court.
UNSW Canberra has converted the court at the former CIT Reid campus into a cutting-edge facility where researchers and entrepreneurs can test robotic devices.
Professor Matthew Garratt said it is one of the largest spaces of its kind in Australia.
"We can track up to say 30 robots at once and we know exactly where they are and their orientation," he said.
"We used to have a smaller facility, but now we want to do things like have swarms so we can test swarms of robots, swarms of drones, and we need the bigger space for that."
Quadruped robots that look like dogs moving, drones and flapping-wing robots inspired by dragonflies can be tested at the facility. They can have military applications but could also be used in times of natural disasters to do tasks that are too dangerous for humans.
"One of the main uses of robots is when it's dangerous, dull, and dirty," Professor Garratt said.
"So for emergencies and bushfires... being able to send robots in to put out little spot fires and look for victims of... catastrophes is really important."
In a glass-walled space on Constitution Avenue, the UNSW Canberra Protohub is providing a space to incubate startups and small-to-medium businesses at the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing.
The workspace has everything they need to create a device prototype, from plastics injection moulding and vacuum forming, creating electronic components, 3D printing and laser-cutting devices.
Engineering manager Matthew Barrett said the Protohub has only been open for a month but it has already helped businesses to develop product prototypes.
"UNSW hosts the largest makerspace network within Australia. This space in particular... is very unique in that it's been co-designed and hosted for industry."
Engineering and computer students also have access to the Protohub from their first-year introductory courses through to final-year industry projects before they transition to the workforce.
Across the road, behind the yellow hoarding, the groundwork for the first stage of the $1 billion UNSW Canberra campus is under way.
Pro-vice-chancellor of precincts Zoe Terpening said there should be cranes on site by the end of the year.
"The community will start to see things coming out of the ground. But I think the important message is we're already here," she said.
The entire campus will be built to accommodate about 6000 students. The first two buildings will have capacity for about 1000 students and are expected to be open in 2028.
Already 25 students are on campus studying a bachelor of cybersecurity, but in time the university wants to expand its course offerings.
UNSW Canberra general manager Luke Garner said the university was looking to fill skills gaps in Canberra.
"2028 will be the big year in which we release more programs, and they will really speak to the university's strengths in things like technology, engineering, AI, and entrepreneurial kind of studies," he said.
In a city already serviced by several universities, Mr Garner said there was room for UNSW to bring a new offering focused on industry partnerships.
"I think each of the universities are... distinctly different. ANU is a fantastic, world-class theoretical university, and where I went, University of Canberra, it's very much applied.
"But in the space that we're kind of playing, is kind of that technology [focus]. But our partnership with industry is really defining UNSW through its history."
