Element Robotics

Projects in Motion ▶️ Element Robotics To help autonomous rovers prepare for lunar missions, Melbourne-based Element Robotics is building LunarSim: a high-fidelity digital twin simulation of the lunar environment. Unlike systems designed from the ground up to simulate a particular mission, LunarSim’s model of the Moon is responsive to different vehicles. Whichever test vehicle you plug in will accurately experience the effects of lunar environment according to its unique size and specifications. The technology means mission operators can fine-tune their design and train their team before building any hardware – and Element Robotics is also aiming to bring it to terrestrial industries like mining, construction, and maintenance operations. The team is currently experimenting with rocks, craters, and lunar vehicle models to bring a small area to life, with heightmaps based on imagery from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and illumination calculated from NASA’s SPICE library. An initial version of the product is expected to be ready for the market in early 2026. LunarSim is supported by our Moon to Mars Supply Chain program, which helps deliver competitive Australian products into global space supply chains. Discover more Australian space industry stories at http://spklr.io/6043B1lox

Six Australian robotics startups will go head-to-head for the opportunity to travel to Boston for a one-month residency at the world’s largest independent robotics hub, MassRobotics 🌏 Congratulations to the finalists! (Seascape Autonomy, Element Robotics, NexBot, J Group Robotics, Inneurva, Traversal Labs) 🇦🇺 We are looking forward to welcoming and hosting the winner as the prize. 🔗 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gfzcXuAh We’re thrilled to support Propel Air, Australia’s First AI and Robotics Sprint! ARM Hub #Australia #MassRobotics #robotics #startups Marita McGinn, Cori Stewart, Tom Ryden

Before a rover ever touches the Moon, it needs to survive a thousand missions on Earth. Robot simulators often get the parts right but rarely do they come together as a cohesive system. And when you're building for the Moon, that kind of comprehensive accuracy isn't a luxury. It's a necessity. If you're testing a robot lawn mower or a delivery bot, you can just step outside and collect real data. But when the environment is 384,400 km away, simulation becomes your only dataset. At Element Robotics we are building LunarSim, a high-fidelity digital twin of the lunar environment. It’s an accurate simulation environment where terrain, physics, lighting, and perception are designed to feel real at the scale the robot experiences. That means a rover can drive, see, interact with the world, and generate the kind of sensor data that’s representative enough to build autonomy with confidence before ever leaving Earth. We’ve started with a small area and focussed on getting the details right: - Surface heightmaps based on imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Illumination calculated from NASA’s SPICE library - Rover scale rocks and craters placed with the DSNE distributions It’s still early, but it’s working. Opening up faster, safer iteration for off-world autonomy. If you’re working on lunar robotics, simulation testing, or autonomous systems for remote environments, we’d love to connect. #DigitalTwin #LunarRobotics #ROOver

🚀 Meet the trailblazers of Australia's first AI and Robotics Sprint – Propel-AIR! We're proud to unveil the inaugural cohort of groundbreaking startups shaping the future of robotics and AI across agriculture, defence, logistics, healthcare, space, and the ocean floor. 🌱 From chemical-free vineyard robotics to robotic touch sensors and lunar mission simulators, these visionary companies are solving real-world challenges with cutting-edge technology. 👏 Congratulations to: J Robotics is a new agricultural technology company developing smart machines to help vineyards use fewer chemicals and grow better crops. Their first product uses light in the ultraviolet spectrum to safely treat grapevines for powdery mildew—a common disease that affects wine production in Australia. This chemical-free method helps vineyards move toward organic certification and more sustainable farming. Element Robotics has created Lunarsim, a digital twin to help teams test and train robots for Lunar missions. It works like a virtual environment, letting you see how robots will perform in lunar conditions before anything is built or launched. This approach saves time and money and improves mission success rates. It also has future uses beyond space in high-risk industries like mining and remote operations. Traversal Labs has built MotionLogic, an AI-powered analytics platform that transforms video from industrial settings into actionable insights. It helps factories reduce waste, improve ergonomics, and optimise production. The data collected can be used to train robots to work in industrial settings. Nexobot Pty Ltd is building the world’s lowest-cost parcel sorting solution, enabling regional and small-scale logistics operators to automate for the first time. The robotics platform cuts walking time, boosts accuracy, and improves safety, all at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. Inneurva empowers touch with AI through “Robotic AI Skin,” a soft, sensor-rich patch that gives robots a sense of touch. It captures complex tactile data across robotic grippers, humanoid suits and intelligent clothing. A large tactile model interprets and responds in real time to support safe, smart and intuitive interaction. Seascape Autonomy has developed an autonomous underwater robot that photographs the ocean floor, providing images used to build landscape models. 💡 Propel-AIR is Australia’s national accelerator advancing sovereign capability through responsible AI and robotics. Backed by the ARM Hub AI Adopt Centre, it supports commercialisation, scale-up, and investor readiness for frontier technologies. Stay tuned — these innovators are just getting started. Cori Stewart Samuel Jesuadian Greg Reeves Troy Cordie Angela Reed Catherine Leather Matthew Tobin Jackie Taranto Clinton Fookes Cathy Foley Shannon Willoughby National AI Centre Tim Ayres Rita Arrigo Jackson Shields Stefan Williams Tenzin Crouch Dominic Lindsay Tass Paritt Alex McClung

We’re thrilled to be selected as a finalist in the Propel-AIR Robotics Sprint! Looking ahead, we’re eager to advance our lunar simulation capabilities throughout the program and collaborate with others pushing the boundaries of robotics.

🚀 WE'VE GOT NEWS! Element Robotics has been selected for the #MoonToMars Supply Chain Capability Improvement grant program! Together with our partner Nominal Systems, we're advancing #LunarSim – our simulation software for testing autonomous rover missions on the lunar surface. This project showcases Australian #innovation and strengthens our nation's role in the global #space economy. Thank you Australian Government and Australian Space Agency for your support and confidence in our vision through the grant funds! The journey to the stars begins here, and we’re just getting started. 🚀 #SpaceInnovation #AustralianSpace #MoonToMars #SpaceTech

Australia. We are going to the moon! 🚀🌙 Element Robotics is absolutely thrilled to be a partner in the ELO2 consortium, taking Australia to the Moon under the Australian Space Agency Moon to Mars Trailblazer program! It’s an incredible honor to be part of this groundbreaking project, pushing the boundaries of technology and inspiring all of Australia to dream big! We would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the entire ELO2 consortium for the dedication, focus and commitment during stage 1. Our collective effort has brought us the opportunity of a lifetime! A special shoutout to Ben Sorensen and Joseph Kenrick the codirectors of our consortium, they have done a phenomenal job of pulling together the best team to take Australia to the Moon! 🇦🇺 At Element Robotics, we’re passionate about building the future of autonomous systems for space exploration. During Stage 1 of the program, we successfully established the foundation for the rover’s autonomous capabilities, highlighting our expertise and enabling the consortium to demonstrate cutting-edge technological advancements. The road ahead is exciting, and we can’t wait to see what we achieve together as we help shape Australia’s lunar legacy. Let’s go to the Moon – and beyond! 🚀🇦🇺🌙 #ELO2 #AustraliaToTheMoon #ROOver #ASA #SpaceExploration #rover

One of the toughest challenges in building autonomous navigation systems for the Moon is mapping. While there's been extensive research into mobile robots in structured environments like warehouses, and we see autonomous cars navigating city streets, surprisingly few solutions exist for 3D mapping of off-road, unstructured terrain—especially when it needs to run on a small, low-power computer fit for a space mission. At Element Robotics, we build autonomous navigation systems for the Moon. Reliable 3D mapping is key. Our team is exploring several techniques, including Probabilistic Terrain Mapping for Mobile Robots with Uncertain Localization, originally developed by ANYbotics for legged robots. We are excited to test how this approach works for a wheeled rover and assess its viability on the low-power computing used for space missions. The first major milestone has been an initial upgrade to ROS2, which you can check see in the attached video. Next up, we'll be integrating it with NAV2 to streamline testing and evaluation. #ROS2 #LunarNavigation #AutonomousMapping #SpaceTech #NAV2

Understanding how autonomous navigation algorithms perform is key to refining them. That’s why we are creating streamlined visualization tools to assess navigation performance, both during real-time operations and in post-test analysis. This week, we’ve been testing our software's ability to autonomously navigate to random goal locations, complete a task (inspired by lunar missions!). In simulation, we can run hundreds of iterations, allowing us to identify both strengths and potential bugs quickly and efficiently. Performance testing may not always sound glamorous, but it’s an essential foundation for building reliable autonomous systems—and we’ve made it exciting too! 💡 Kudos to the team for transforming some complex data into an actionable and engaging interface. #autonomy #lunar #simulation #rovers #ROOver

Building autonomous robots for the Moon is a huge challenge. Replicating the harsh lunar environment here on Earth is very hard to do (its expensive and requires lots of time). Simulation is key. In the next few years, we will see more and more robots headed to the moon including Australia's’ very own #Roover. These robots will need to be tested for thousands of hours in simulation. Not only to verify software, but also to build operations procedures and rehearse missions. This week at Element Robotics we have been hard at work developing our simulation platform. We used real images of the surface of the Moon taken from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and 3D models of rocks collected during the Apollo missions to replicate the Moon’s surface. We’re using this sim to rigorously test our autonomous navigation software in a realistic lunar environment. What's next? We're working on making it look more realistic. ELO2, Australian Space Agency, Ben Sorensen Joseph Kenrick,