Austal Australia has entered into a strategic commercial partnership with Greenroom Robotics, in which Greenroom will develop new services and technologies for Austal-designed and built patrol boats, with the goal of enabling remote and autonomous operations – thus reducing crewing levels and lowering the risk of harm to human personnel, especially when conducting missions in areas with high concentrations of UXO.
The partnership stems from the completion of the Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT) for the Royal Australian Navy, hosted in April this year. As part of the PBAT, a decommissioned, 57m Armidale-class patrol boat, renamed Sentinel, was equipped with Greenroom’s GAMA software and sent on a 705nm autonomous route between Geraldton and Cape Naturaliste, off the coast of Western Australia.
While Sentinel featured a skeleton crew on standby (comprising personnel from Austal, Greenroom, Trusted Autonomous Systems and Integrated Maritime Systems), ready to assume manual control in the event of a problem, the GAMA software handled all navigation tasks during the trial. The crew was also assisted by Greenroom staff situated in the Remote Command Centre at Austal’s Henderson facility, providing updates and technical assistance.
“The GAMA software maintained autonomous control of the vessel for 95% of the voyage, stopping only to collect some shots of Sentinel along the way,” Greenroom recounts. “Using its COLREGS-aware autonomy, GAMA identified incoming vessels or hazards in its path and executed close to 150 autonomous avoidance measures across the trial.” Afterwards, Greenroom calculated that a typical crew requirement aboard an Armidale-class patrol boat would cover 21-29 crew members with an average salary of AUD55,000 (US$37,000). As a result, switching to autonomous operations could feasibly reduce yearly crewing costs of more than AUD1 million (US$671,500) for said boat type.
Greenroom’s Lookout+ system was also integrated with GAMA, and was used to continuously monitor nearby vessels and potential hazards not detected by radar and AIS. The company’s MarOps software, meanwhile, helped to streamline planning, execution and data analysis. “By ensuring all operations were meticulously documented and aligned with safety protocols, MarOps saved time and facilitated quick onboard decision-making,” Greenroom claims. The new strategic partnership agreement will now enable Greenroom to transfer these technologies to Austal’s newbuilds.
The agreement will also help Austal Australia to contribute more fully to the trilateral AUKUS II security partnership between Australia, the UK and the US, which seeks to strengthen these three countries’ defence capabilities by sharing sensitive technologies and new weapons systems, as well as through joint military exercises. The Australian Government has committed to increasing its defence funding by AUD11.1 billion (US$7.45 billion) over the next decade as part of its newly introduced Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS), which places an emphasis on the development and utilisation of autonomous systems to secure Australia’s waters.
