A robot boat powered by sun, wind and wave energy to stay at sea for months tracking enemy or illegal vessels was turning heads in Sydney Harbour earlier this week.
The unmanned energy-saving boat was among four NSW winners of defence innovation awards at the inaugural Pacific 2017 International Maritime Expo in Sydney.
Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne presented the awards to national winners across five categories.
A total of 15 Australian civil and defence industry innovators were shortlisted.
The awards were developed by Industry Defence and Security Australia Limited to recognise the significant innovations of companies and young innovators operating in the commercial maritime and naval defence sectors.
The awards recognise and reward local companies and individuals at the forefront of naval and maritime innovation and carry with them a total of $40,000 in cash prizes.
Defence NSW Director Commodore Peter Scott, CSC, RANR said other NSW winners include a cutting-edge communications system to power and protect Navy teams when boarding vessels, and research into submarine sonar and smart robots to clean ballast tanks.
“Congratulations to the four NSW winners of Maritime Australia Industry Innovation Awards at PACIFIC 2017 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Sydney,” Commodore Scott said.
“These outstanding companies and individuals – as well as our six other NSW finalists – show our State is working at the leading edge of defence industry technology.
“NSW has world class defence industry and R&D institutions working together to help deliver Defence priorities. This is a key aim of our Defence and Industry Strategy – NSW: Strong, Smart and Connected – to drive innovation, research and commercialisation.”
Major award
Thales Australia of Potts Point took out the major Defence Innovation National Award for its Stingrae communications system developed with the Navy to help power and protect its boarding parties when boarding vessels.
Ocius Technology of Kensington won a $10,000 Defence SME Innovation Grant for its Bluebottle Unmanned Surface Vessel that runs on solar, wind and wave energy and can carry 200kg of equipment for lengthy unmanned ocean missions.
Two NSW researchers each collected $10,000 Young Innovator Scholarships for their exciting research work with applications for the submarine industry.
Peter Kabakov of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights has led research to support submarine sonar systems.
Andrew Short, a PhD student from the University of Wollongong, has led research to help robots inspect submarine ballast tanks, which is a difficult and dangerous job.
Principal sponsor
The 15 Australian innovators shortlisted for the Innovation Awards were showcased at the Pacific 2017 International Maritime Expo in Sydney from October 3-5.
The NSW Government is Principal Sponsor for Pacific 2017 and is promoting 14 exhibitors on the Defence NSW stand at the maritime conference which has attracted over 500 companies from 21 countries and 15,000 visitors.
The CEO of Pacific 2017 Ian Honnery said the quality and diversity of the entrants has been outstanding.
“Innovation isn’t just about having good ideas – it’s about putting good ideas to use,” Mr Honnery said. “These innovators are trying to be game changers in their markets and we are delighted to be able to recognise their contributions and be a part of their journey.”
Innovation Award Winners
Defence Industry National Innovation Award:
Thales Australia which has developed Stingrae – an integrated communications management system for naval boarding parties.
Defence SME Innovation Grant
Ocius Technology Limited, which is building unmanned ocean drones or unmanned surface vessels (USVs) called Bluebottles that run on the energy available at sea – solar, wind and wave energy. This results in a disruptive, autonomous surveillance and communications platform that can remain at sea for weeks or months at a time.
Ocius was awarded a CTD contract in 2015 leading to a successful demonstration in August this of an anti-submarine warfare variant of the Bluebottle.
Civil Industry National Innovation Award
AMOG Technologies Pty Limited for its work developing and testing an all-new application for the disruptive, Australian-developed Longitudinally Grooved Suppression (LGS) technology. This has the potential to revolutionise the offshore drilling industry by providing an innovative solution to the pervasive problem of Vortex-Induced Vibration that is experienced by offshore oil rigs mored in water that can be more than 500m deep.
Civil SME Innovation Grant
Nauti-Craft Pty Limited which has developed an innovative approach to improving the ride, handling, comfort and safety of marine vessels, especially at high speeds and in high seas. The NCMSS uses a passive suspension system between the hulls and superstructure of a vessel to improve ride comfort, handling and occupational health and safety for crew and passengers in high-speed craft such as naval and police boarding parties.
Young Innovator Scholarship – Dr Peter Kabakov & Andrew Short
Peter Kabakov is the lead scientist on a collaborative R&D program involving ANSTO, Thales Australia and the University of Wollongong. The team has developed single crystal piezo-electric ceramics for use in acoustic transducers for sonar systems. This will allow these to be manufactured in Australia for the first time.
Andrew Short is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Wollongong. He is working on a collaborative research project designed to develop robots for inspection of submarine ballast tanks. As part of his research Andrew has developed both a new approach to motion planning for robots and an Automated Offline Programming software library to support the development of industrial robots and simulators. This has also been sold commercially and he has co-founded a start-up company to commercialise further this software technology.
