Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Australian Vanadium receives $14.7 million grant Battery materials company Australian Vanadium has received a milestone payment of $14.7 million from the federal government under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative – Manufacturing Collaboration Stream. The grant provides up to $49 million to support the company’s Australian Vanadium Project to enable new critical mineral production which will support…

New AI tool speeds drug discovery

Australian researchers, led by Monash University, have invented a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool for virtual screening in early stage drug discovery to speed the identification of potential new medicines. Although computational methods within drug discovery are well established, there is a gap when it comes to AI tools to rapidly and cost-effectively predict the…

Towards 3% R&D – intelligent systems for defence innovation by Saeid Navahandi

Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Saeid Nahavandi looks at the role robotic and autonomous systems can play in defence innovation and operations. In line with the complexities of modern warfare, the integration of advanced robotic and autonomous systems (RASs), artificial intelligence (AI), and human-machine collaborative…

Akula Tech progresses bushfire monitoring from space

Akula Tech which aims to design and build a constellation of satellites to detect natural disasters and conflicts and analyse the information in space has qualified to join the XPRIZE Wildfire competition’s Space-based Detection and Intelligence Track (Track A). XPRIZE is a four year international competition to develop and demonstrate fully-autonomous capabilities to detect and…

Fleet Space Centauri-6 satellite deployed in space

Fleet Space Technologies has announced the successful deployment of its next-generation Centauri-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The new member of the company’s satellite constellation will help service demand for its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, while also building capacity to deliver…

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Legrand Group announces acquisition of New Zealand’s Mechanical Support Systems Electrical equipment company Legrand has announced its acquisition of Mechanical Support Systems (MSS), a New-Zealand based company that offers cable management solutions for the electrical and mechanical sectors. MSS’ services include cable containment manufacturing, supply, installation and design, as well as bespoke fabrication. “While we are…

Australian AI system developed for uncrewed vehicles

BAE Systems Australia and Trusted Autonomous Systems (TAS) have completed a four-year research and demonstration programme developing an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that could be used in uncrewed ground vehicles (UGV). The companies developed the TAGVIEW (Trusted Autonomous Ground Vehicles in Electronic Warfare) system which allows multiple UGVs to operate simultaneously to carry out…

Canberra backs Australian businesses to adopt AI

A new programme to support Australian businesses adopt and integrate Artificial Intelligence safely into their work practices has been launched by the Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic. The Australian Government’s Responsible Artificial Intelligence Adopt Program will provide $17 million to establish up to five AI Adopt centres across Australia. The government is seeking…