Tech venture firm Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) had a key announcement for the market this morning, with a major update on the development pathway for its market-leading autonomous security vehicle (ASV). Image: Getty
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The successful completion of Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) is a major milestone in the ASV’s commercialisation pathway.
Tech venture firm Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) had a key announcement for the market this morning, with a major update on the development pathway for its market-leading autonomous security vehicle (ASV).
Developed by SOR subsidiary Stealth Technologies for the Western Australian Department of Justice, the ASV was deployed for live operations site acceptance testing (SAT) at WA’s Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison correctional facility.
And this morning, the company announced it has successfully passed the SAT process, in an testing procedure that was attended by members of the WA Department of Justice, along with representatives of Honeywell and Stealth Technologies.
Following a multi-year development pathway, the successful SAT marks a major step forward in SOR’s go-to market strategy for its proprietary ASV technology.
And it’s also exciting proof that Australian-based tech innovations can provide solutions for fast-growing global markets such as perimeter security, which is expected to be worth more than $US280 billion by 2026.
In terms of market adoption in the correctional services sector, SOR has a key potential advantage via its relationship with Honeywell.
Listed on the New York stock exchange (NYSE:HON), the engineering multinational is the leading player facilities management for correctional facilities in Australia and New Zealand.
SOR is also in “ongoing discussions with potential early adopters” in non-correctional sectors, for the ASV as well as its AxV (autonomous mobile robotics) platform, the company said.
Those discussions are based around specific use cases in security, mining and other areas such as the AxV platform’s capacity for weed detection technologies for use in the global agriculture sector.
“A further update will be released should an agreement be entered into for the ASV or AxV Platform,” SOR said.
To successfully complete the SAT, Stealth Technologies demonstrated the capacity of the ASV to increase the security of the site perimeter while reducing human involvement.
The SAT process involved a number of metrics including emergency stops, the completion of full missions across internal and external perimeters, and seamless switching between manual and autonomous control.
The testing procedures confirmed the ASV’s design specifications as an autonomous vehicle that’s able to complete full missions around the perimeter of the facility.
The vehicle is equipped to test multiple aspects of interior and exterior security functions, including all the advanced sensory equipment installed at the facility such as microphonics sensors and photo-electric beams.
“Testing of the perimeter is aided by a robotic actuator that extends out of the vehicle and simulates cutting or climbing of the fence,” SOR said.
“Surveillance is provided by a military grade camera that provides 360-degree high definition video surveillance.”
All information obtained is the reported back in real-time to the facility’s security management system which is operated by Honeywell.
“Communication includes testing outcomes, mission status, ASV diagnostics, surveillance and admin via the Patrol Control Centre,” 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.
