The history of the Institute of Production Machines, Systems and Robotics is connected with an important Brno scientist and engineer, Prof. Dr. Ing. Josef Ondra, who for political reasons worked earlier at the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering in Košice and Bratislava. In the mid-1960s, he was able to return to Brno and in 1964 he founded the Department of Machine Tools and Forming Machines at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Brno University of Technology and in addition to it a Scientific and Pedagogical Department, detached directly in the premises of the Machine Tool Factory TOS Kuřim.

The basis of this newly established department was the Department of Machining and Production Equipment built by Prof. Vladimír Horák since 1958. From the school year 1965/66 onwards, other excellent designers joined the teaching of machine tool and forming machine construction, Prof. Liemert with experience in the construction of single-purpose machine tools at TOS Kuřim and Assoc. Kamelander from the Brno Research Institute of Forming Machines.

Together with them came to the department associate professor Ing. Ivan Vavřík, CSc. from the field of technological design and production quality control and hydraulics expert Ing. Jaroslav Vaďura, CSc. and associate professor Ing. František Kelča, DrSc., who started international cooperation with TU Chemnitz in 1972. Other significant and practical experience in the construction of forming machines was brought to the department by Ing. Ljubomir Kuba. The following were successively appointed to the management of the department Prof. Ing. František Konečný, CSc. (1968), Prof. Ing. Květoslav Eliáš (1970), Prof. Ing, Václav Borský, CSc. (1982) and Prof. Ing. Zdeněk Ehrenberger, DrSc. (1986).

Prof. Ehrenberger

Under Prof. Ehrenberg, the department was renamed the Department of Production Machines and Industrial Robots and merged with the Robotics Research and Design Institute. In 1990, Prof. Ing. Zdeněk Kolíbal, CSc., under whose leadership the department was first merged with the Associated Research and Development Workplace of the Brno University of Technology, which provides education in the field of production management engineer. Thus, in 1994, the Institute of Production Machines and Systems was established. After the merger with the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1997, the Institute was renamed to the current Institute of Production Machines, Systems and Robotics.

Prof. Kolíbal

Prof. Kolíbal founded the Research Centre of Automation at the Institute, which was a Brno workplace of the Research Centre of Engineering Production Techniques and Technologies at the Czech Technical University in Prague led by Prof. Ing. Jaromír Houša, DrSc. This laid the foundation for close inter-university cooperation within the Czech Republic in the field of engineering production techniques and technologies, which continues to this day. As part of the generational change, in 2004 was appointed for one term of office to the post of Director of the Institute associate professor Ing. Miloš Hammer, CSc.

In 2006 became the director of the institute doc. Ing. Petr Blecha, Ph.D., FEng. who continued the work of prof. Kolíbal and expanded the focus of the institute into the areas of risk management and ensuring the safety of mechanical and electrical equipment and the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies throughout the life cycle of machinery.

Under his leadership, the Institute expanded to include the Department of Quality, Reliability and Safety and gradually became involved in the scientific and research tasks of the Centre of Competence for Engineering Manufacturing Technology and then the National Centre of Competence for Mechanical Engineering and the National Centre of Competence for Mechatronics and Smart Technologies for Mechanical Engineering as well.

The Institute's staff is also actively involved in the preparation of the Strategic Research Agenda (SVA) and the Implementation Action Plan (IAP) for the field of research in the field of mechanical engineering manufacturing technology within the Technology Platform of Mechanical Engineering Manufacturing Technology at the Association of Engineering Technology in the Czech Republic.