Our CTO (Luke Cole) previously worked for Hemisphere GPS (orginally called BEELINE, and now bought out by AgJunction) as a "Robotics Engineer" implementing auto-guidance solutions for various quadbikes and agriculture tractors that was used by 100's of vehicles around the world.

For 10 years, starting as a teenager in 1998 - Luke Cole has also worked for leading research institutes and companies such as NICTA (now called CSIRO Data61), CSIRO, Seeing Machines and ANU Robotics System Lab (lead by Alex Zelinsky, who received a rare prestigious AO award in 2017 and was Defence Scientist of Australia from 2012 for 6 years). Luke's worked included various autonomous mobile robot projects, involving computer vision, and even a self-driving car early 2000's. Back then OpenCV and ROS didn't exist, so we did a "roll-your-own" called VisLib and DROS comprised of 364,578 lines of code.

Lance Cole has also worked at NICTA and has a background of various hardware development, such as working for a contract company to the US millary (EOS), building the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS).

We have a long-standing robotics experience - our engineers offering Robotics Prototyping for Daly River, robot development and robotics custom software services have something like a combined 50 years worth of experience in the robotics field, from teleoperated and semi-autonomous mobile robotic applications, to custom software and/or custom hardware for general automation solutions, signal processing and control systems. Our knowledge base started in NSW and ACT, but now we primarily service East Coast Queensland.

We have developed autonomous mobile robots for air, underwater and ground. Our professional experience started with developing various control and sensor systems for small underwater vehicles in the late 1990's. We where fortunate enough to have been involved in one of the first self-driving car R&D projects back in early 2000's using a 4WD (to support computers for the large processing requirements). For an overseas client we developed a low profile (70mm high) semi-autonomous mobile robot platform for manikin/dummy mounting to simulate people moving (for vehicle crash safety and collision development by German R&D car manufactures). We have been fortunate enough to have been invited to the bulk of the German R&D car manufactures where they develop and test self-driving and driver assist development systems. We have developed various solutions for 2cm accuracy precision steering-guidance solutions for various types of Agriculture tractors (via the CAN bus and ad-hoc methods), which are still used by 1000's of tractors all over the world. We have retro fitted Quadbikes to allow semi-autonomous control via GPS way points. We have custom developed various indoor mobile robotics for indoor localistion and SLAM R&D purposes.

Robot navigation is the task where an autonomous robot moves safely from one location to another. This involves three primary questions:

  1. “Where am I?” which is known as robotic localisation (hard).
  2. “Where am I going?” which is known as goal recognition (typically provided by a human).
  3. “How do I get there without collisions?” - path planning (easy) and obstacle avoidance (hard).

For robotic localisation and obstacle avoidance we use sensors to solve the problem. To move along the planned path, we use control systems.

We have a deep understanding of signal processing and sensors of various types. We appreciate sensing is a hard problem. There is no one-size-fits all solution. Odemetry (wheel encoders) provide a cost-effective method to measure relative position. however suffer from wheel slip and errors are accumlate over time. GPS only works outdoors, effected by trees/buildings, and without a nearby basestation (for expensive DGPS/RTK) the absolute position error is several meters. IMU (accelerometers + gyros + Magnetometer) suffer from drift errors and noise error causing ``random walk'' when integrated. Magnetometer are effected by magnets, are slow to respond and measure magnetic north (not true north). Infrared are cost-effective, but short range and saturated by sunlight. Ultrasonic range sensors are cost-effective and good for detecting large objects, but can't detect glass/water, only measure a few metres, have a wide beam and provide medium accuracy. RADAR uses radio (instead of sound) to detect objects at long distance, but are relative more expensive then ultrasonic range sensors. Image sensors (video cameras) are a cost-effective, rich in information, and two or more can get depth information, but are computationally expensive, hard to process the data (aka computer vision), affected by dust/fog/rain, and light variations. LIDAR are high accuracy (about 1mm), however are expensive (prices are coming down every year), but can't detect glass/water. Distance measurement sensors are easy to interpret, other sensors are hard. Colour constancy and object classification is very hard (e.g. “Is it a tree or a human?”).

We have a deep understanding of control systems. We typically use Linux-based SBC's and a program a custom PID controller - perhaps even a cascade PID controller, bayesian filters, particle filters, kalman filters, Monte Carlo methods, or train a deep neutral network. The outputs of these systems might control various types of motors (e.g. brushed, brushless, servo, steppers) and/or various types of actuators (e.g. linear, pneumatic, hydraulic), and/or other things like lights or speakers.

We have been involved with computer vision and machine vision since early 2000's - we where involved in the development of two computer vision libraries before OpenCV became popular. Have done much biologically inspired techniques such as optical flow. Was involved in the early days of artificial intelligence using techniques such as Local Binary Patterns (LBP) and Haar-like features (HAAR). These days we typically use machine learning methods such as designing and training deep neural networks (outstanding for vision-based object recognition using ImageNet).

We where involved in the development of a robotic operating system which had 364,578 lines of code, before ROS was written.

We have developed custom software for various manipulators, and have a good understanding of forward and inverse kinematics.

We appreciate that challenges with robotics - particularly with robot navigation, computer/machine vision, and manipulation with the real-world, in real-time using real-robots.

Whilw we can custom develop robot navigation solutions. We can fast-track robot navigation solutions for ground, air and water based platforms via off-the-shelf autopilots. There are many about these days. Some cost-effective open-source options include Pixhawk 4, PX4, and ArduPilot. Some expensive closed-source options include Auterion Skynode, Tersus AutoSteer, Embention Veronte, Outback eDriveX and Trimble EZ Pilot.

We are confident with a broad range of skills and confident our Robotics Prototyping for Daly River services can offer solutions such as:

These technologies can be used for various applications such as:

We also offer a R&D robotic platform UGV for hire to help rapid development of robotics systems. If you'd like to know more please visit "Scotty Robot".

Some of our Robotics Prototyping for Daly River and Custom Development Experience

Information About Daly River

Unlocking Your Local Potential in Daly River, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

As the sun rises over the vast expanse of the Daly River, a sense of excitement and possibility permeates the air. This picturesque region in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia is not only breathtakingly beautiful but also rich in history, culture, and entrepreneurship. For businesses looking to thrive in this area, there's no better partner than COLETEK – a trusted Australian company committed to supporting local businesses and communities. With over two decades of experience working with clients across the country, we have built a reputation for delivering innovative solutions that drive growth and success. But what truly sets us apart is our deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities faced by businesses in Daly River and surrounding areas. As locals ourselves, we know firsthand the value of building strong relationships, fostering trust, and creating jobs for local families. As a national presence with a strong footprint in this region, COLETEK has earned a reputation as a go-to partner for businesses seeking expert advice, cutting-edge technology, and unparalleled support. Whether you're an established entity or an ambitious startup looking to make waves in the local market, we've got your back every step of the way. What makes us tick? For starters, our commitment to innovation means staying ahead of the curve on the latest trends and technologies. We invest heavily in research and development, ensuring that the solutions we offer are always world-class and tailored to meet the specific needs of local businesses like yours. Plus, our team is passionate about delivering exceptional customer service – which is why you'll find us responsive, approachable, and dedicated to supporting your unique goals. As a trusted Australian company with a strong presence in Daly River and beyond, COLETEK is the perfect partner for any business looking to take its operations to the next level. With our expertise, resources, and local knowledge at your disposal, you'll be empowered to tackle new challenges and seize opportunities as they arise. Are you ready to unlock your potential? Take the first step towards a brighter future for your business by reaching out to COLETEK today. We can't wait to help you realize your goals in Daly River, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia – and beyond! Contact Us

Our Clients

Robotics Prototyping for Daly River – Amazing Customer Testimonials

Great delivery, and great relationship orientated services.

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We had the pleasure of doing business with COLETEK who provided us with service work. Their level of service and the quality of their work is exceptional. They communicated with us through the entire process to let us know when the work would be completed. We are very happy to have worked with them.

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We engaged COLETEK to conduct a series of research projects on robotics and we very pleased with their technical skill, creative thinking and hard work. If you need to prototype a complex technical idea, they are a great partner to work with.

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We met with Luke Cole from COLETEK and very quickly realised that he was very knowledgeable in robotics and prototyping. What separates his company from the rest, is that he had a unique value proposition - COLETEK offers a tele-operated / robotic unit for rent and with the flexibility to be modified to build proof-of-concepts. That unit lowered both the cost and time for us to produce a video showing a very challenging concept. In general COLETEK's service was great value. We would recommend them - they will get it done.

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COLETEK have been absolutely fantastic in their support and manufacture of various components for us. Our designs are always bespoke, intricate and low volume and it’s great to have an Australian company like COLETEK as a trusted and quality manufacturer for our spacecraft mechanical components and assemblies – which have been flight proven through successful mission operations. Keep up the great work!