Venture technology company Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) is focused on the next stage of design for its market leading autonomous security vehicle (ASV). Pic: Supplied
SOR adds ‘Sensor Fusion’ stack to its market leading ASV technology
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Special Report: The company continues to break new ground in autonomous security vehicle (ASV) development.
Venture technology company Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) is focused on the next stage of design for its market leading autonomous security vehicle (ASV).
Developed by SOR subsidiary Stealth Technologies in conjunction with $US100bn global engineering giant Honeywell, the ASV is one of a number of projects that have caught the market’s attention in recent months.
This morning, SOR announced that it’s in the advanced stages of integrating a new ‘Sensor Fusion’ stack into a new generation vehicle – a group of technologies that will enhance the ASV’s ability to assess and interact with its surrounding environment.
The fusion stack will include LiDAR, radar, GPS, sonar and thermal imaging as well as different types of cameras.
The technology has been developed so the respective strengths of each sensory device works together to enhance the overall effectiveness.
“Each sensor has individual strengths that when combined can eliminate the weaknesses of the others,” SOR explained.
For example, the LiDAR, radar and thermal imaging capabilities will give the ASV an improved sensory capability for night-time operations.
Next generation
The latest technology upgrade will complement Stealth’s existing ASV project, which is already in advanced stages of development.
The ASV is currently under live testing at the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison in Kalgoorlie and is on track to be completed by the end of the March quarter.
The team will work to integrate the Stealth Autonomous Operating System and relevant software inputs over the next two to three months.
“Live trials of the new generation ASV with Sensor Fusion is expected to commence in the first half of 2021,” the company said.
Strategic Elements’ CEO Charles Murphy said that since Stealth’s ASV project started gaining commercial traction in 2020, the company has put in a lot of work to plan and design the next generation of ASV technology.
“In our view, the Sensor Fusion stack is just the start of showing how we can add advanced intelligence into our mobile robotics platform,” Murphy said.
He added that the Stealth ASV project is one of a number of projects where SOR has executed on exciting development pathways, including its Electronic Battery and Memory Ink solutions.
The end goal for the ASV is to establish an autonomous vehicle for perimeter security testing that can operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The live testing underway at Eastern Goldfields is an important step towards Stealth addressing a global market opportunity. The collaboration with Honeywell is an important focus for the Company seeing as Honeywell provides extensive technology, engineering and asset management services to thousands of facilities worldwide.
Under its agreement with Honeywell, SOR also has the all-clear to independently market the ASV into other sectors such as transport, energy, defence, government and utilities.
These sectors will be a focus area of the next generation of ASV vehicles equipped with the Sensor Fusion technology, the company said.
Discussions have already commenced with “potential Early Adopter Program participants for the ASV in non-correctional sectors such as mining and transport”, SOR said.
This article was developed in collaboration with Strategic Elements, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
