Not every mechatronics engineering student gets to have a billion-dollar idea. Xavier Orr did. It was the second-half of the 2000s, before the explosion in machine learning led by AlexNet and Google Brain. Rather than image classification, Orr was studying a neural network alternative to the Kalman filter. Kalman is an algorithmic technique used since the…
By Adam Bartley, RMIT University and Matthew Warren, RMIT University A 12-tonne fishing boat weighs anchor three kilometres off the port of Adelaide. A small crew huddles over a miniature submarine, activates the controls, primes the explosives, and releases it into the water. The underwater drone uses sensors and sonar to navigate towards its pre-programmed…
By Peter Layton, Griffith University The United States military plans to start using thousands of autonomous weapons systems in the next two years in a bid to counter China’s growing power, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced in a speech on Monday. The so-called Replicator initiative aims to work with defence and other…
Wirra Wirra in US export breakthrough McLaren Vale, South Australia winery, Wirra Wirra, has secured a landmark, exclusive deal with the world’s largest family-owned wine company, E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo) to export its range of wines across all 50 US states. Under the agreement, Wirra Wirra will be Gallo’s exclusive McLaren Vale supplier,…
Korean defence manufacturer Hanwha Defense Australia (HDA) has brought together Australian and South Korean industry to pitch its autonomous VenomX logistics concept. The company is pitching the AI powered ‘Automated Protected Logistics to the Edge’ system to the Australian Army via the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation and Coordination Office (RICO). Hanwha is building self-propelled…
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown just how quickly new defence systems can be developed when they need to be – bypassing long, convoluted and expensive development programmes in peacetime. Well, Australian Defence Force personnel has developed a naval uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in just 14 weeks and on a limited budget, with a…
The Royal Australian Navy has received its fifth and final BlueBottle Uncrewed Surface Vessel (pictured) powered only by the wind, sun and wave action. Manufactured by Ocius Technologies, the BlueBottle can cover long distances, undertake a variety of missions, and stay at sea for extended periods. BlueBottle vessel BEACON recently spent two travelling to and…