SA defence grants for five projects

A new virtual reality tool that manipulates digital human mannequins to solve ergonomic challenges posed by military vessels is one of five cutting-edge ventures to receive funding as part of the latest round of grants from the Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund (CRF).

The University of South Australia, with partners The University of Adelaide and engineeri9ng firm Kadego-Cadgile, will develop a VR tool to assess designs for complex, high risk environments, including submarines.

SA Premier Steven Marshall said the CRF was proving to be an important gateway to successful partnerships between industry, academia and Defence.

“To date, the Collaborative Research Fund has provided almost $3 million to 20 South Australian- based projects from a range of disciplines.

“What’s also exciting is this research can also improve outcomes for people working in a range of industries including mining and space.”

The full list of projects to receive funding are:

• $149,957 for a framework for addressing design challenges in wargames, led by Flinders University with partners the Department of Defence, University of Adelaide, University of NSW and DEWC Systems Pty Ltd
• $150,000 for deep sensing: machine learning enhanced optical fibre hydrophone, led by the University of South Australia with partners the University of Adelaide, Acacia Systems Pty Ltd and Arkwright Technologies Pty Ltd
• $149,999 for developing neuroscience-based approaches to assessing and enhancing human cognitive performance in challenging operational environments, led by Flinders University with partners the University of South Australia, Technology for Education Solutions Pty Ltd, Department of Defence (Army) and Department of Defence (Defence Science and Technology Group)
• $150,000 for advancing SOCRETIS (SOCial REasoning Tool and Interactive System): an AI-enabled collaborative reasoning aid for the information environment, led by the University of Adelaide with partners Insight Via Artificial Intelligence Pty Ltd, University of South Australia and the Department of Defence.
• $149,894 for a virtual reality tool to manipulate digital human mannequins for evaluating ergonomics and human factors, led by the University of South Australia with partners the University of Adelaide and Kadego Engineering Pty Ltd

The Defence Innovation Partnership is a collaborative venture between the SA government, the Department of Defence Next Generation Technologies Fund, and South Australia’s three universities.

Picture: Defence Innovation Partnership

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