Robotics Association of South Africa

The yearly RobMech and PRASA conference supported by the Robotics Association of South Africa.

SPONSOR/EXHIBITOR OPPORTUNITIES 2026

The upcoming summit offers vendors in the smart mining, manufacturing, and related sectors a prime platform to showcase their solutions and gain industry visibility. It also highlights the growing role of robotics and automation, aligning with leading initiatives such as RobMech and PRASA that are shaping South Africa’s advanced manufacturing landscape. This year the proceedings will include multiple streams, including Industry Case-Studies, Thought-Leadership, and Academic Peer-Reviewed Research presentations.

Focused on knowledge sharing, the event aims to strengthen the country’s smart mining and manufacturing community. Industry and Academic members will present research, case studies and success stories that inspire discussion, encourage questions, and promote collaboration across traditional operations, robotics, and intelligent systems.
Vendors will have the opportunity to exhibit their products and services and deliver thought‑leadership presentations. Sales pitches are not permitted; all presentations must support the development of a cutting‑edge smart mining, manufacturing, and robotics ecosystem in South Africa.

Participation provides a valuable chance to build business relationships, engage with industry leaders in manufacturing operations management, and connect with the broader robotics/automation community represented by RobMech and PRASA.

For more details contact [email protected] ...

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2025 RAPDASA-RobMech-PRASA-AMI international conference

Following the success of the 2024 RAPDASA Conference, joined by RobMech, PRASA and AMI, hosted in the Board Walk Hotel and Conference Venue in Gqeberha, South Africa on 28 to 31 October 2024, we are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the
2025 RAPDASA-RobMech-PRASA-AMI international conference to be held on 27 - 30 October 2025 in the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria, South Africa. RAPDASA is again joined by Robotics and Mechatronics (RobMech), the Pattern Recognition Association of South Africa (PRASA) and the South African Advanced Materials Initiative (AMI).

This conference will bring together experts from industry, R&D institutions, academia and students in additive manufacturing, materials engineering, rapid product development, pattern recognition, robotics and mechatronics to present research, network and expand the fraternity that has been built by the previous conferences.

The theme of the 2025 conference: “Bridging the gap between industry and academia”.

Bridging the gap between academia and industry in advanced manufacturing, including areas like additive manufacturing, robotics, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, is essential for accelerating innovation, fostering technological adoption, and addressing real-world challenges.

The conference will offer opportunities for local and international participants from industry, R&D institutions, academia and government, to connect and collaborate to grow the next generation of product development and advanced manufacturing enterprises across the African continent and globally.

Conference papers on the following topics are welcomed:
Additive Manufacturing
Rapid Prototyping
Advanced Manufacturing
Computer-aided Design
Product Engineering
Reverse Engineering
Design, Simulation and Modelling
Process Modelling
Structural Analysis
Materials Selection for Design
Materials Engineering
Materials Processing
Tooling Design and Development
Classifiers and related topics
Speech processing
Natural language processing
Computer vision and image processing
Bioinformatics
Signal processing
Remote sensing
Artificial intelligence
Machine learning
Computational analytics
End-user applications and systems
Knowledge Based Systems
Information Technology Applied to Manufacturing
Computer-Aided Engineering Education
Sensors and Applications
Robotics and Automation
Lean Manufacturing Logistics
Management of Technology
Operations Management
Education and Training
Agile Manufacturing
Mechatronics
Distributed Control Systems
Renewable Energy
Manufacturing Neural Networks

Who should attend?
The Organizing Committee invites product designers, engineers, production staff, technical directors and managers from industry involved in design, development and manufacturing of products and components to participate or simply attend the conference. In addition, participants from international product development and materials engineering communities, academia and R&D institutions are also invited to attend and participate in the conference. Additive manufacturing, robotics and pattern recognition, are becoming important for general managers and CEOs and the world of finance and investment. Ample opportunities will be available to meet with experts in the field.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts of papers and posters: 28 February 2025
Notification of acceptance of extended abstracts of papers and posters: 14 March 2025
Deadline for submission of abstracts of participants from industry:
6 June 2025
Deadline for submission of full papers: 9 May 2025
Feedback on reviews of full papers: 4 August 2025
Submission deadline for final revised papers: 1 September 2025
Submission deadline for poster designs: 26 September 2025

Please see instructions on the RAPDASA website at https://site.rapdasa.org/annual-conference/ on how to submit an extended abstract for the conference.

Publication of papers
Extended abstracts must first be accepted before submission of a full paper can proceed. All papers submitted for the conference will be subjected to a double-blind peer review process, which will be handled by the Technical Committee. Papers accepted after peer review will be published in the conference proceedings in MATEC Web of Conferences. Selected papers that comply with the scope of the journal and are of high quality, will be submitted for publication in the ISI accredited The South African Journal of Industrial Engineering (SAJIE).

Industry presentations
As an alternative to the above publication of peer-reviewed papers, industry participants can present their applied research in a non-peer-reviewed format. Only an abstract of 300 words length must be submitted for such industry presentations. Industry presentations are not included in the conference proceedings.

The deadline for industry abstracts is 6 June 2025.

Companies or organisations that wish to be a sponsor of the conference may contact Rynette Coetzer at [email protected]

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