Victorian and NSW Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) Pentarch has won the two major Industry Land Forces 2022 Innovation Awards for their project that safely, and remotely, handles and ‘de-fuzes’ 105mm artillery rounds.
Pentarch won the National Innovation Award and the SME Innovation Award categories.
Their novel multi-system process, known as Project Damocles, developed at their Oaklands site removes and interrogates fuzes fitted to artillery projectiles using automated robotics and vision systems, and delivers them via un-manned conveyors for reuse or disposal.
Pentarch Executive Director Chris Deighton said he and his team were delighted with the acknowledgment, describing it as testimony to the power of bringing technical specialists together to solve a longstanding problem for their client, the Australian Department of Defence.
“The cost of R&D and achieving compliance with Defence requirements, especially where human safety is the overriding priority, can be demanding and often financially challenging for SMEs,” he said.
“As an SME ourselves, we’ve worked closely with a very wide range of small businesses to develop our solution from a concept around the challenge faced then designed and integrated multiple sub systems in a fully automated process that can be transported and assembled at the required locations.”
The bespoke robotic system is operated remotely and moves pallets of ammunition within storehouses, conveys them to a process area that extracts ammunition boxes from the pallets, ammunition tubes containing the rounds from the boxes, removes the projectile from the inner packaging (tubes), then de-fuzes the round. The fuze is positioned for X-ray where it is determined to be in an ‘armed’ or ‘unarmed’ state, then repacked for re-use or sent to disposal. At each site the whole process is contained by a modular HESCO barrier system.
Mr Deighton said their clients at Defence LEOSPO, EMB, JLC, DOS, CMB, and EO Licensing have been truly supportive.
“Our commercial partners Scott’s Automation, REACT Automation RedTeam, NTSS, SG Consulting and AVS Elli are located across New South Wales and Victoria, and have combined in many creative, clever and practical ways,” he said.
“The combined technical expertise in robotics, automation, conveying systems, X-Ray and vision technology, and workplace safety has come together in a truly innovative project that shows how a world class solution can be designed and implemented in regional Australia. Importantly, the whole project has shown that SMEs, with proactive support from within Defence, can develop solutions to complex problems.”
Federation Council Mayor, Cr Pat Bourke said he’d like to extend a huge congratulations to Chris and the team at Pentarch following this incredible achievement.
“Pentarch is a terrific business and one we are very fortunate to have in our Federation Council region,” Mayor Bourke said.
“Pentarch is a fantastic example of an innovative and cutting-edge business that supports our local economy with jobs, grants and other kind donations made. The service this company is able to offer to defence and many other industries in safely and environmentally responsibly managing the disposal or decommissioning of so many different products is so significant. The entire team is very worthy of these awards and I have no doubt this business will continue to go from strength to strength.”
The Damocles solution has been in operation since July 2021 under a commercial arrangement with Explosive Materiel Branch, Land Systems Division, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, Department of Defence and will be completed by early 2023.