The first Defence Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Trusted Autonomous Systems was formally launched at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2018 in Brisbane on May 22.

Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne, welcomed the CRC which was established under the Next Generation Technologies Fund. “I am pleased the first Defence CRC, which is focused on trusted autonomous systems, has got off to a fitting start at the world-leading International Conference on Robotics and Automation.”

“The Defence CRC allows Australia’s industry and research sectors to collaborate with Defence on leading edge technologies such as autonomous systems to maintain the ADF’s capability advantage,” he said

The Defence CRC has been established to research and deliver autonomous technologies to Defence, ensuring trusted and effective cooperation between humans and machines. Inaugural founding company members of the Defence CRC include BAE Systems Australia, DefendTex, RMIT University, and Defence Science and Technology.

The Defence CRC will initially carry out three research projects in the maritime, air and land domains led respectively by Thales Australia, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems.