What's next for the Pentagon after the Replicator programme?
Although the Replicator initiative has made several accomplishments, there are still multiple gaps to plug across the US Department of Defense (DoD) and its services.
CSIRO oversees judging of 2008 UAV Challenge - Outback Rescue
The outback is near Kingaroy airport in Queensland and the person is a mannequin, but the unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV) are real. It’s all part of the 2008 UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, which CSIRO’s experts in autonomous robots are helping judge.
Going beyond remote control, UAV’s rely on computers, sensors and the global positioning system (GPS) to figure out how to perform tasks given to them by a human operator. “The UAV Challenge helps promote the significance of UAV’s to Australia,” said CSIRO’s Dr Michael Bruenig, Deputy CEO of ARCAA.
One of the richest UAV competitions in the world, the UAV Challenge is an initiative of the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA, a partnership between CSIRO and Queensland University of Technology), the Queensland Government and Boeing Australia Limited.
Participants in the open competition have an hour to fly up to five nautical miles (approximately nine kilometres), search four square nautical miles (over ten square kilometres) for ‘Outback Joe’, drop a 500 millilitre bottle of 'life saving' water close by him then return to the airport.
“Here we’re showing how UAV’s could save lives by quickly and cost effectively delivering medical supplies to critically ill patients in remote areas, but UAV’s could also inspect powerlines and other infrastructure, monitor stock, keep an eye on water use or traffic flow and then there are defence applications in border security and surveillance,” he said.
CSIRO’s research focuses on the civilian applications for autonomous vehicles such as our submarine, helicopter, ground vehicles and robots for mining.
“Since last year’s competition, we’ve already seen increased participation of regional Australia in high-tech industry,” Dr Bruenig said. “We particularly value having a category for high school students because it exposes them to potential career opportunities in this area in Australia.”
The 2008 UAV Challenge - Outback Rescue, 23 to 25 September 2008, Kingaroy airport, Queensland.
You may also like
More from Uncrewed Vehicles
-
![What's next for the Pentagon after the Replicator programme?]()
-
![Cummings Aerospace showcases Hellhound loitering munition designed for US Army’s LASSO programme (video)]()
Cummings Aerospace showcases Hellhound loitering munition designed for US Army’s LASSO programme (video)
Cummings Aerospace presented its turbojet-powered Hellhound loitering munition at SOF Week 2025, offering a man-portable solution aligned with the US Army’s LASSO requirements.
-
![SOF Week 2025: PDW unveils attritable FPV drone for SOF operations at scale]()
SOF Week 2025: PDW unveils attritable FPV drone for SOF operations at scale
PDW has revealed its Attritable Multirotor First Person View drone at SOF Week 2025, offering special operations forces a low-cost, rapidly deployable platform for strike and ISR missions, inspired by battlefield lessons from Ukraine.
-
![SOF Week 2025: Teledyne FLIR white paper provides guidance on reusable loitering munitions]()
SOF Week 2025: Teledyne FLIR white paper provides guidance on reusable loitering munitions
Teledyne FLIR is highlighting the emerging requirements for 'recoverable and re-usable' loitering munitions across the contemporary operating environment during this week’s SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida.
-
![SOF Week 2025: Kraken Technology group debuts K3 Scout USV in North America]()
SOF Week 2025: Kraken Technology group debuts K3 Scout USV in North America
High-performance maritime industry player Kraken Technology Group, based in the UK, has used the SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida this week to debut its K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to the North American market.
-
![Palladyne AI and Red Cat to demonstrate capabilities for autonomous drone swarms to the US military]()
Palladyne AI and Red Cat to demonstrate capabilities for autonomous drone swarms to the US military
Red Cat and Palladyne AI recently conducted a cross-platform collaborative flight involving three diverse heterogeneous drones.
