ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
YINNAR is known for its picturesque views of the Morwell River Valley and Strzelecki Ranges – but now its become known as the town creating ground-breaking Australian Defence Force (ADF) technology.
Known as Outlook Industries’, the group of local inventors – Luke Townsend, Dr Hasitha Hewawasam and Michael Saulle – are working hard on their latest surveillance technology: a robot that can save lives.
Despite lacking an NBN internet connection and robotic qualifications, Mr Townsend managed to bring his ideas to life.
An ex-veteran himself, having served in multiple overseas operations with the Australian Defence Force and British Army, Mr Townsend recognised the need to improve surveillance systems.
Mr Townsend’s brainchild has been named GUS, which stands for Ground Unmanned System.
“The idea is that in security work like rangers in a national park or soldiers in a battle zone … your elite manpower is tied up in over watching areas doing observations posts, doing listening post, and those guys need to be highly trained because it’s hard disciplined work,” he said.
“With GUS our intention is to leave him there for a month, a month and a half … he doesn’t need food or water, he doesn’t need leave, he doesn’t have family problems.”
The purpose of GUS is to eliminate human risk and to save lives as the robot can survey and warn of potential threats.
Unlike a solider, the GUS robot can be posted for about 50 days with the ability to withstand gunfire.
“Whatever your threat force is, if it’s a heavily armed gang or it’s a group pf jihadist or insurgents … or even a foreign enemy, they can shell, shoot at GUS and he doesn’t care, you know its fine’, and they’re so inexpensive, depending on how they’re fitted out,” he added.
The team showcased an earlier model of GUS as an anti-poaching robot at the 2022 Brisbane Land Forces which impressed judges, helping the Outlook Industries team land the defence contract.
“We’ve just got to produce vehicles for defence so they can run a trial and we’re making those now, and then they have an option to buy more vehicles, and we hope to sell them to other locations as well for all sorts of missions,” Mr Townsend said.
GUS is a huge innovation for the defence force; the robot is customisable for the needs of various operations and missions, making the robot versatile for almost anything.
Mr Saulle, the head of fabrication and design, said, “When we had the fires out the back here in Yinnar South, communications was a really big issue for us, so with GUS we can strategically put it on top of a hill with a mobile phone and radio repair systems in it and then you’ve got communications.”
“And if for some reason it gets trapped and gets burnt well you haven’t put anyone physically in danger,” he added.
The team of inventors is also managing interest from park rangers in Central Africa to use GUS as an anti-poaching surveillance system to prevent the loss of high-value species like rhinoceros.
Mr Townsend loves his Yinnar town community.
“I came around the corner here with my daughter on my shoulders, I was looking for somewhere to open up a shop”, he recalled how the local carpenter, who previously owned the workshop, said he could have the workshop on the spot.
The community has shown up for Mr Townsend and the team as other locals have lent tools, equipment and ideas, while some Yinnar residents simply swing by just to say hello.
Mr Townsend said he has his community’s full support, perhaps maybe too much support, as he said people stop by all the time.
Mr Townsend feels as if GUS is what he was working towards his whole career.
“This feels like my opus… the pinnacle of everything we’ve done,” he said.
“In the past like in East Timor, we used to do clearing patrols around the perimeter, and so when you finished your clearing control, sometimes the militia would come in and set up snares and booby-traps and things, so when you go out and do another clearing patrol you could get hurt. The same thing would happen in Afghanistan.”
The self-taught inventor Mr Townsend gave credit to Mr Saulle and Dr Hewawasam.
“The whole time I had the idea for [GUS], Michael (Saulle) was helping me up in Townsville like 15 years ago where we were trying to build the early versions of this,” Mr Townsend said.
It wasn’t until the pair met Dr Hewawasam when the robot came to life.
“I think when we caught up with [Dr Hewawasam] to be fair I gave him a small migraine,” Mr Townsend laughed as he explained his approach to electronics and programming couldn’t compare to Dr Hewawasam’s.
Outlook Industries is a member of the Latrobe City Defence Alliance.
The Latrobe City Defence Alliance has been established to showcase the world-class engineering and manufacturing capability of industry in Latrobe City.
Mr Townsend is aware of the gaps in ADF machinery and wishes to expand operations into other technology.
“I’m working on an idea for anti-aircraft protection … because of the Ukraine situation, very quickly they ran out of high-end expensive missiles, whereas Australia has [them], but there’s absolutely nothing until you get to a guy with a rifle or a machine gun, so there’s that gap there and I’m hoping that we in the Latrobe Valley can fill it,” he said.
Mr Townsend is excited by the idea that defence industry jobs can come from such a small town and is working alongside the Latrobe Valley Defence alliance with his ideas to expand the local industry.
GUS has already proved useful having been out on the town, patrolling the streets of Yinnar due to a recent surge in thefts.
If you are ever in Yinnar and see a robot coming your way, don’t be alarmed – it’s just GUS.
Handiwork: Luke Townsend with the latest surveillance technology GUS ADF Version 1 robot. Photograph supplied
Teamwork: Outlook Industries present GUS the robot to the Australian Defence Force. Photo: supplied
