Victorian Technology Profiles Apr/May 08

Automation is an integral part of modern life: machines answer phones, wash cars and dispense cash. But there’s one aspect of life where most of us would like to be even more hands off — cleaning the floors.

Working in the industrial cleaning industry, Murray McDonald decided to find a way to clean floors with minimal human intervention.

“I teamed up with semi-conductor and robotics expert Duncan Ashworth and we designed the Floorbot, an automatic floor cleaner. It’s a very manual labour market at the moment — it’s only ten percent mechanised. Everybody else grabs a mop and bucket to clean the floor,” says McDonald.

The rechargeable Floorbot can mop and vacuum large spaces efficiently, navigating around obstacles such as steps, walls and objects on the floor.

“The Floorbot is a consumer cleaner at final prototype stage, and we are now focusing on a commercial product, the Sweepbot. It can clean large spaces like warehouses or stores like Bunnings overnight.”

McDonald and Ashworth founded Melbourne-based Floorbotics International in 1998 and have applied their patented technology to commercial and industrial cleaning machines as well as other platforms including automated security guards, farm machinery and defence applications, where the machine clears an environment of bullets and gun pellets.

“Our core technology is called ARNA, an autonomous robotic navigational algorithm. This software controls the electronics for the machine and wheels and decides where it’s going. Then we add sonars, laser range-finders or infra-red sensors, depending on the product. Some products just use a simple bump sensor because it’s highly reliable. Once we do the initial set up, it should be ‘set and forget’,” says McDonald.

The Sweepbot is undergoing trials with large commercial partners and McDonald expects to manufacture the unit in Melbourne later this year before shipping to US and UK markets.

Converting masses of data into useful information – it’s an enduring challenge of the ‘information age’. We record minute details about our business activities but often struggle to transform this raw data into business intelligence (BI).

Glen Rabie and his partners were developing human resource management software in 2000 when customer feedback highlighted this gap in the market.

“Our HR software included a reporting tool. We had a potential customer who said, ‘I like the reports, but I don’t really like the rest of it. Can I just have the reporting tool?’” says Rabie.

The Melbourne-based business changed direction to develop what is now Yellowfin, an easy-to-use business intelligence tool enabling users to quickly and effectively retrieve and present business data. Consisting of a dashboard and reporting tool, Yellowfin can be installed in less than an hour, with ad hoc report creation through the web-based interface taking hours rather than days.

Rabie says the system is sold as a stand-alone solution or embedded into third-party software products.

“The embedded market is hugely successful for us. We have some very big customers through our software partners. Even with the big ERP systems, a lot of businesses don’t actually install the BI component. They often install a host of different BI tools across the business. There are very few organisations that have a single, enterprise-wide BI tool in place,” he says.

A recent inclusion to the Australian Technology Showcase, Yellowfin suits various industry sectors including HR, hospitality, health, finance, legal, travel and manufacturing, with customers throughout Australasia, North America and Europe.

“We see huge potential, particularly in the embedded space. We’ve got significant deals underway with major international software vendors. They see us as a strategic part of their business.”

Meet Australian businesses providing innovative environmental solutions and applications at the Australian Technology Showcase Pavilion, Enviro 08 – Australasia’s Environmental & Sustainability Conference and Exhibition.