Universities to support autonomous vehicles push

The federal government has pledged $3 million to deepen Australian co-operative research with the United States on unmanned defence systems. Defence industry, Melissa Price announced what is seed funding to the University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, the University of NSW and Queensland University of Technology. The funding is under the AUSMURI programme, a sister programme…

Boardrooms need to get serious about innovation – AICD

Comment by Peter Roberts Australia’s business boardrooms need to get serious about innovation, with few recognising the urgent need to prioritise innovation, acording to a new report from the Australian Institute for Company Directors (AICD). Given the current realities of Australian manufacturing, this is a comment that should be taken on board even more urgently…

LBT Innovations wins crucial European approvals

Medical technology developer LBT Innovations (ASX: LBT) has won European CE mark certification for its APAS Independence laboratory instrument, allowing sale in all European countries. The company has identified 130 priority customers among laboratories in Europe, and will follow its successful strategy of placing its instruments with the laboratories for performance evaluation. APAS is an…

Defence short-lists two for armoured vehicle buy

Defence ministers have announced that two armoured personnel carriers have been short-listed to replace the army’s armoured personnel carriers. Defence minister Linda Reynolds and defence industry minister Melissa Price named Hanwha Defense Australia and Rheinmetall Defence Australia, beating out two other contenders. LAND 400 Phase 3 programme will replace existing M113 Armoured Personnel Carriers with…

Stealth Technologies and Honeywell join forces on autonomous vehicles

Australian artificial intelligence company Stealth Technologies and control technology giant Honeywell have joined forces to develop a range of robotic autonomous vehicles. Honeywell has paid Stealth an initial $100,000 and will jointly develop mobile robots the companies believe offer a rapid payback. The vehicles will form the basis of navigation services ranging from inspection, transportation…

Skykraft awarded $1 million to build nano-sattelites

UNSW Canberra spin-off company Skykraft has been awarded a $1 million grant to accelerate design and manufacture of small satellite systems. The grant from the ACT government will begin design and manufacture of a SmallSat constellation to provide global air traffic management capabilities. Skykraft managing director, James Prior said this ‘early definition work’ established a…