Page 88 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2021
P. 88

                  86 LAND FORCES ARX & AID
JUNE 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
 An example of waste management systems that can also be used to produce power was demonstrated at AID by Cubic Defence which, in partnership with the Towns- ville campus of John Curtin University (JCU), is develop- ing a Microwave-Assisted Pyrolysis System which can be deployed into the field inside three 20ft (6.1 metre) ISO shipping containers.
A working prototype was developed at JCU by Profes- sor Mohan Jacob and is able to processes five kilograms of organic waste into gas, oil and char, all of which can be re-used. The prototype has also demonstrated a 2x energy yield and Cubic is working with the university to develop
ARMY ROBOTICS EXPOSITION 2021
Held on day two of the event, ARX 2021 was hosted under the auspices of Army’s Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation Coordination Office (RICO), led by direc- tor Colonel Robin Smith. The event provided visitors with the opportunity to experience the large number of vehicles and capabilities that were on display inside one of the con- vention centre’s cavernous halls.
Around 55 companies and organisations were on hand to display their wares, ranging from large defence industry primes such as Boeing Defence Australia, down to small start-ups which developed their prototypes inside home garages. Hardware on show ranged in size from several tiny hand-held nano-drones to an autonomously-driven Army truck, which was often to be seen obediently fol- lowing its escort vehicle around a large roped-off course.
Shortly after the doors were opened at 9:30am, the hall was filled with flying objects, crawling (and walking) vehi- cles, waving robotic arms and all manner of whirrs, buzzes and flashing lights.
While an exhaustive study of the technologies on dis- play isn’t possible in a few pages, an idea of the range of ideas, products and concepts on display included a flying demonstration by a small, fast and nimble drone devel- oped by Sydney-based SME Vicerator.
Vicerator’s prototype uses first-person view (FPV) tech- nology and company CEO and founder Jamin Early told ADM that it is engaging with the Defence Innovation Hub to study the development of a similar, production-ready platform that Defence can use with FPV technology. The flight demonstration, inside a cricket pitch-size safety net, involved the 500-gram drone being flown at high speed
BELOW: A number of speakers gave presentations at QTC 2021, including Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro (pictured here), Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley, and Head Land Capability MAJGEN Simon Stuart.
  “AROUND 55 COMPANIES AND ORGANISATIONS WERE ON HAND TO DISPLAY THEIR WARES, RANGING FROM LARGE DEFENCE PRIMES TO SMES AND START UPS.”
a production version, capable of pro- cessing 50 kilograms of waste per duration, within a year. The system is designed to consume 32 kW of in- put power in the processing of each batch of waste, but is able to produce 125 kW of output energy during the process, about 74 kW of which can be readily harnessed, preserving the 2x energy yield of the prototype.
An example of delivering en- hanced performance through the use of renewable energy, Supacat revealed a concept to convert its
  High Mobility Transport (HMT) Extenda vehicles to hy- brid drive units. The existing design can already be con- verted in service from 4x4 to 6x6 vehicles by adding or re- moving a self-contained rear axle unit, and the new hybrid concept proposes installing a new rear axle and electric drive system (which can drive all three axles) in a similar manner. The vehicle can be swapped between diesel and hybrid configurations by Army’s field workshops as desired and ADM understands the performance of the vehicle is not affected and, under some circumstances, can actually deliver enhanced performance.
     ADM ROYA GHODSI



















































































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